


Live, Love, Feel and know that today

by MaraSenpai1997



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Animals, Baking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Insecurity, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Rivalry, Seung-gil is so dense, Team as Family, The fog is so thick, They're like one big family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-01-21 20:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12465016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraSenpai1997/pseuds/MaraSenpai1997
Summary: ~ Vivir, Amar, Sentir y saber que hoy. ~Today, the sun may not riseEven if it rainsNo matter how hard he tries, it seems that Phichit 'I opened a French bakery in the same street as yours' Chulanont didn't take their rivalry seriously. Maybe Seung-gil was growing soft, maybe Chulanont was immune to his glare or he was an actual wizard. Nonetheless, Seung-gil would never, ever, tolerate Phi- Chulanont existence. (He fails miserably.)You and I will know how to danceNobody can stop us





	Live, Love, Feel and know that today

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Katsuki_Yuuri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuki_Yuuri/gifts).



> I sometimes wonder if I should have picked graphic design instead of business, as I spend way too much time making my summary visually pleasing.
> 
> Happy birthday to one of my favourite [people](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/yuuriandviktorr) in the world! I hope you have a wonderful day, and I hope you enjoy this story. I know it isn't Leoji- but my list of stories was getting low, and most of the stories where I'm working on, you were already aware of. (My tendency to overshare). Then, I recalled you would have liked to see this AU, rivalry bakery AU, and it was a go. So, there is still Leoji, but more SeungChuChu. It has also gotten 22k long, which wasn't planned, really.
> 
> Please read the tags, there is a mention of a mental breakdown, which is semi descriptive, I think? Please be aware if you're really sensitive to that stuff.

Seung-gil had been having a perfectly productive night and morning filled with baking. Another batch of bread was in the oven, the second to last batch before the shop would open Thankfully, his pumpkin bread hadn’t collapsed like the last time. Somehow, he was even ahead of schedule, he would be cruising till seven when the shop open, and the old ladies would flock his bakery to get the fresh food.

 

Of course, when things were going right, it was a matter of time before things started to plunge into the dark depths of hell. Despite being closed, Seung-gil never locked the door when he was working in the back. After all, it was a fire hazard, and he wasn’t ready to go down with his bakery. His bakery could be replaced, though he liked his bakery and its location. Hasetsu street was a nice street, always busy, loads of shops, nice people. Well, most of them were nice people. Seung-gil had a personal beef with Leroy whose wife worked next doors in her own clothing store. The guy was a nuisance, an annoying nuisance who had a little too much blackmail material on him. Down the street, having his own restaurant, lived the elder of the Crispino twins. Seung-gil didn’t hate him. Michele, on the other hand, did hate him. Maybe because, apparently, Michele’s twin sister Sara used to have a crush on him. Though, in all fairness, Michele didn’t like people in general, so he wasn’t exception.

 

Nonetheless, those were the two people in Hasetsu street he _truly_ struggled to get along with, but there was one guy who Seung-gil, for whatever reason, found annoying. He never really had done anything wrong, but Seung-gil simply couldn’t stand him. And, of course, that person had to make his perfectly productive morning not so productive.

 

As Seung-gil was re-arranging his vitrine with baked goods; bread, cakes, French baguettes, Italian bread, the whole shebang, mister ‘I can’t stand you for whatever reason’ entered his shop.

 

Phichit Chulanont was a combination of bright smiles, perfected winged eyeliners and sugar and flour smudged cheeks and hair. He settled down in Hasetsu street about a year ago, at least three years after Seung-gil, and he dared to open a _p_ _atisserie_. A French _bakery_. A bakery. He was literally stealing all Seung-gil’s customers. (Which was a lie- actually, his sales never have been better, but Seung-gil would never admit that). Seung-gil hated him. (He didn’t).

 

“Chulanont,” Seung-gil said curtly. “What brings you here?”

 

Unsurprising, Chulanont took it all in stride, just grinning and shrugging nonchalantly. “Well, one of my employees was doing our inventory, and noted down the wrong number.” Seung-gil had a faint idea where this was going. “She noted down that we had 200 pounds of white sugar left, she forgot to cross out a zero.”

 

He still didn’t like Chulanont, never would, but he winched visibly when the pastry chef finished. The flaw of a human, one slip-up and suddenly, your inventory wasn’t correct anymore. You could lose a lot of income and foremost, there was a reason the saying ‘trust arrives walking and departs riding’ was brought into existence. One day missing out on production and you lost your customers or at least a few.

 

“And why would you come to me with this issue?”

 

Did Chulanont expect Seung-gil being able to pull some strings to get a quick delivery? Seung-gil didn’t have the best contacts when it comes to sugar delivery- after all, as a baker who mainly baked bread, there wasn’t a lot of sugar needed. But, sugar was for Chulanont like eggs for Seung-gil, he wouldn’t be able to work without it.

 

“Well,” Chulanont leaned nonchalantly on the vitrine. “I wonder if you have some white sugar left in your storage. Usually, I could get around with twenty, I only would have to lay low on the sugary stuff like chocolate cake, but I have got this insane order for a Halloween party tonight.”

 

Seung-gil wasn’t surprised. He never had anything from Chulanont’s pastries, but people worshipped his food. Like, he was a brilliant pastry chef and, foremost, original. Seung-gil simply couldn’t muster the courage to veer away from his recipes- he was always afraid it would go wrong. He didn’t like when things went wrong.

 

“And what’s considered insane? Figures will help.”

 

He would deny it until the day he died, but Seung-gil was already mentally going through his stock, figuring out how much he had to offer. He didn’t use that much sugar, and fairly enough, his stock of sugar was a bit on the higher side of what he actually needed. But with the lack a close-by expire date, he was never too worried about overstocking sugar.

 

“They want 500 cupcakes- taking in the fact I need some for the shop itself, my guess is a ten pounds to cover only the order.”

 

Sometimes, he wondered if Chulanont was some kind of wizard because Seung-gil didn’t even hesitate.

 

“I can offer you at least twenty,” Seung-gil said. “Forty, maybe sixty. I can look up the amount I paid for it, and you can pay me back- we have to do the paperwork and such though because otherwise my bookkeeping will be messed up and I-”

 

Mortified, Seung-gil snapped his jaw shut, teeth painfully clacking against each other. God, what was he doing?

 

Chulanont’s previous smile was _nothing_ compared to the one he currently was sporting. It was a lot softer, but the feelings were still genuine, paired with that was an unreadable look in his eyes that made Seung-gil hold eye-contact for longer than necessary. Definitely a wizard.

“Twenty is plenty,” emotions were thickly laced between Chulanont’s words. “And don’t worry- I won’t mess up your accounting. Yuuri mentioned how important it is to have that all sorted out.”

 

Like before, Seung-gil couldn’t figure out the emotion hidden in his words. Maybe Yuuri was right about him being dense when it came to emotions.

 

Both men jumped when Seung-gil’s timer went off, announcing that his bread was supposed to be ready.

 

Schooling his face, Seung-gil beckoned for Chulanont to follow him as he hurried into the back to save his loaves of bread. He was so absorbed in getting his bread out, he wasn’t aware Chulanont was casually watching him, eyes shimmering with the same, unreadable emotions.

 

“It smells great.”

 

Seung-gil jumped, almost dropping his tray with bread. He had forgotten Chulanont was still there- it usually happened when he was in his element, but most of the people knew that and were kind enough not to frighten him. Chulanont apparently not.

 

Surprisingly, Chulanont actually jumped in and was _not_ an idiot like Yuuri, who had burned his hands when he had jumped in the first time it had happened.

 

Chulanont had snatched up a hand towel and pushing the tray up a little, saving the loaves from sliding right off and hit the ground.

 

“Sorry,” Chulanont offered him an apologetic smile. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Seung-gil stabilised the tray and placed it on the heat-proof surface. “It’s fine,” he assured. “The bread are safe- now, let me place the last batch in the oven, and we can get your sugar fixed.”

 

Glancing at Chulanont, Seung-gil saw his face tighten slightly, his smile less genuine than before. He had no idea what he had done wrong- maybe he should have said ‘thank you’? Well, there was a reason he worked behind the scene most of the time. Humans weren’t his thing, sadly enough. He had employees for that work. Maybe he should take up a crash course human-interaction if that one even exists. Probably not- most people _knew_ how to handle, well, people.

 

~*~

 

Seung-gil did not hate the cold, at least not in the degree Iglesia- well, _Leo_ like the shop owner insisted- hated it. Leo was the proud owner of a music shop on number twenty-nine, which was only a couple of places down the road from where Seung-gil’s bakery stood proudly. Being originally from California, the New York weather wasn’t too kind on him. The change was subtle, Leo started to grow quieter and stiller by the degree it got colder. Thankfully, all Seung-gil all had to do was wrap his coat more tightly around him and secure his gloves and he was set to brace the snow and cold.

 

Closing the shop door behind him, Seung-gil took in the snow-covered street. It was Sunday, which meant that it was his day off, but yet he was up and running at seven in the morning. He blamed it on the fact that he was so used to waking up at four in the morning that seven ‘o clock was considered sleeping in.

 

As it was Sunday, the streets were pretty much deserted. A few children of the shop owners were running around, playing in the freshly fallen snow, dog owners were marching off to the closest-by park, and there were a few tired looking people flocking Popovich’s coffee shop, probably surviving on pure determination and the longing for just a warm cup of coffee.

 

The joined store across him, occupying twenty-one and twenty-three, was the pet shop owned by Yuri Plisetsky. The store window was still unlit, but Seung-gil suspected that within half-an-hour or so, the dogs started yapping and forcing Plisetsky out of bed. Maybe Seung-gil could stick around and offer to walk the dogs. Though that would result in Plisetsky asking _what_ was wrong, as visiting the pet shop was something he loved to do when he needed some time-off. Because, apparently, he found nothing more therapeutic than animals, dogs in particular. It was that he ran a bakery, so worked with _food_ , because otherwise, he would have had a dog. So, in the end, Seung-gil tore his almost longing gaze from the shop and headed down the street. A stroll through the park would do nicely to brighten his mood.

 

Like expected at seven in the morning on a Sunday, all the stores were still closed, no movement behind the shop window. That was till he glanced at shop thirty-seven, Chulanont’s patisserie. The lights were lit, and he saw life flickering in and out of view. It wasn’t too surprising, Chulanont had mentioned it took quite a bit of preparation getting everything done, and the weekend was the busiest days of the week, so extra food was needed. What was surprising, however, was that only _one_ person flickered in and out of view. The only one he could see was Chulanont, which was odd. On days like these, Seung-gil would have at least one extra person in the store helping out with preparations and another one for managing the counter.

 

Up to this day, Seung-gil wasn’t sure what drove him to enter the shop, but that didn’t take away the fact he crossed the street and entered the shop without a second of hesitation.

 

The shop bell rang, and Chulanont froze on the spot in alarm.

 

Chulanont was a mess. He looked tired, his apron was tied haphazardly, and his fingers, hands and partly arms looked like they had returned from a paintball war. Food-colouring, probably.

 

“Oh,” Chulanont said with a sigh, lowering the tray he was holding up.

 

It took a few seconds for Seung-gil to realise Chulanont had been willing to attack a possible burglar with a _cupcake_ tray. To his horror, he let out a loud snort which was followed by a crooked smile. Oh dear, Chulanont made him laugh his embarrassing ass laugh.

 

Getting over his initial surprise, Chulanont’s composure eased into something open and casual, though it did a little for the tightness. Seung-gil was terrible at reading emotions themselves, but he knew how a human body worked. Or, well, he knew how animals worked, and human body language wasn’t that much different from the animal one.

 

“So, what brings you here?” like his body, Chulanont’s smile was tight, though the guy did a great job hiding it. But having seen his own, horribly faked smile in the mirror too often, he knew the difference between a real one and a forced one.

 

“I _was_ going for a stroll in the park,” Seung-gil started, placing emphasis on ‘was’. “But I saw you running solo, and I was… curious.”

 

That was a damn lie. He didn’t pry into people their personal lives, or work lives for that matter. He wasn’t nosey like the cafe-owner on number five or the younger half of the Crispino twins, Sara, on eighteen. He knew he was _worried_ because if he had a busy day, he couldn’t even imagine doing it all alone.

 

Chulanont’s happy facade fell, weariness painted all over his face. “I fired one employee because she kept on messing up everything, one called in sick yesterday, and the other is on winter holiday,” being bad at reading emotion be dammed, Seung-gil could literally _feel_ the stress waved through the words. “So I’ll be running solo today.”

 

The most logical thing for Seung-gil was to take pity on Chulanont, wish him luck, maybe trying to pull in a favour by one of his own employees. Instead, he was too much of a workaholic was his reasoning, he shrugged off his coat, tugged of his gloves and tied his hair back with a spare tie he always carried around. He really had to get a hair-cut sooner or later.

 

“Let’s duplicate that count,” Seung-gil offered, feeling satisfied as Chulanont’s expression fell into one that expressed surprise. “My plans for today were non-existing anyway, and baking is baking, as long as you have recipes I’ll manage.”

 

As Chulanont basically started to tear up, Seung-gil cursed Yuuri. Surely that guy’s kindness had started to rub off, as he never had offered help to any of the other shop owners. The most he had done was walking Plisetsky’s dogs, and that was a win-win situation, as it was very therapeutic for him and Plisetsky had a little less work to do.

 

“You’re kidding, right?”

 

Seung-gil pointy ignored the tears rolling down Chulanont’s cheeks. The guy probably had been up and running for hours, trying to get a truck-load of work done that wasn’t physically possible for one person. The amount of stress he had been coping with wasn’t healthy- and probably now he cracked.

 

“I’m not humorous,” Seung-gil pointed out. “I don’t ‘kid’, especially not about something like this. I’ll help you out today if you’ll have me.”

 

Surprisingly, Chulanont managed to put himself together quite decently. After hurriedly wiping away his tears, which left his eyes damp and slightly red but nothing else, he went into the kitchen for a brief moment. He returned with a floral pattern apron, one akin to his but only with a blue theme instead of red.

 

“Assuming that your decorating skills are rubbish,” Seung-gil nodded in agreement. “I leave most of the baking up to you, you can start with apple pies.”

 

Taking a rather battered piece of paper from Chulanont once he finished tying his apron, Seung-gil let his eyes wander over the recipe.

 

The original recipe was printed out, but there were so many modifications that it was more a mishap of words and numbers than anything else. It was hurtful to his eyes- all Seung-gil’s stuff was neatly printed out and laminated. In all fairness, some of his recipes weren’t completely up to scratch anymore. But changing them like Chulanont did was… wrong. You weren’t supposed to experiment with such things- there is a reason a recipe is published. Because it’s good. It’s already perfected and doesn’t need any change.

 

This was going to be a long day.

 

~*~

 

Seung-gil had seen plenty of horrors in his life. His student debt, the mortgage for the bakery, Chris’ naked _butt_ , but nothing was more horrifying than having Chulanont running around in his kitchen, trying out recipes and ‘improving’ them. Changing them, dirtying them, _ruining_ them. You did, in fact, not come between a man and his precious recipes, unless you were Phichit ‘you’re still my rival despite you think we’re friends’ Chulanont.

 

“Your banana bread is insane,” Chulanont said as he fluttered around the kitchen, collecting items and ingredients he needed for said banana bread. “But it’s too dry, and the taste is too mild, which is because the original writer of the recipe added too little banana. Adding extra will add to the moist _and_ the taste, so that’s killing two birds with one stone.”

 

No matter how solid Chulanont’s reasoning was, Seung-gil just kept up his glare and watched as Phichit threw together the ingredients with practised ease. It was awe-worthy, as Seung-gil never had seen Chulanont sell something akin to banana bread.

 

“You don’t believe me,” Chulanont pointed out, placing the bread in the oven. “But only time will tell. Bread will be done in an hour,” a pause followed in which Chulanont was probably checking the time. “So, around eight.”

 

This definitely was going to be a long evening. Chulanont had shown up half-an-hour ago, announcing that he would be helping Seung-gil with his ‘standard recipe syndrome’ problem. He never had said yes, but Chulanont clearly didn’t seem to care. He was either oblivious to Seung-gil’s glares, or he was just too stubborn.

 

“Okay, we’ll see at eight,” Seung-gil made sure he upped his glare. This wasn’t a situation in which Seung-gil acted out of kindness, kindness that he blamed on Yuuri. This was Chulanont ‘making it up’ to him, so Seung-gil had no reason to be nice. “Any suggestions what we’re going to make next?”

 

He hoped that this would unnerve Chulanont. It didn’t, which by now shouldn’t surprise him anymore. He wondered if his glare was malfunctioning. Could a glare malfunction?

 

“If I could marry food I would marry your croissants,” Chulanont said.

 

That was a weird compliment to get.

 

“Thank you?” Seung-gil answered, unsure.

 

Chulanont flashed him a bright smile. “There is always a but,” he added, waggling his finger. “Why stay with just the traditional? I have a killer blueberry croissant recipe lying around to be used- but the issue is that I’m terrible at making croissants. You aren’t.”

 

Blueberry croissants? Was that even edible? He had heard of different flavours- he still owed Guang Hong, owner of the arts & craft store, a batch of Nutella croissants. It was a long story that included a bet, ducks and trespassing to escape the police. That was the day he swore he would never bet against Guang Hong ever again.

 

“So you want _me_ ,” he was pretty sure he was fuming by now. “To try out _your_ croissant recipe?”

 

“Yes!” beamed Chulanont.

 

The guy was truly a wizard, as all that came out of his mouth was a single ‘sure’.

 

Groaning, Seung-gil pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that he could find patience somewhere. Newsflash, it didn’t happen. “You’re going to be the death of me, Chulanont.”

 

Like expected, Chulanont laughed joyful, eyes shimmering with what Seung-gil guessed was joy. “Phichit.”

 

“What?”

 

Chulanont’s smile didn’t falter one bit despite his rude tone. “Call me Phichit- we’re the same age, and we’re friends. You calling me by my surname makes me feel like I’m your mentor or something like that.”

 

Seung-gil was torn. He wasn’t friends with Chulanont, not really. But on the other hand, why not? It was just a name, and if it made Chulanont happy? After all, a name didn’t change how Seung-gil thought about him, and he wasn’t spiteful either. It was an easy request.

 

“Okay,” Seung-gil nodded. “Phichit it is.”

 

Chulanont- no, Phichit’s- smile was a like a punch in the gut. Well, heart. Both were organs, and Seung-gil was left speechless nonetheless. Oh dear, he was all nice and cosy with the _enemy_. Please don’t let this turn into a cliché Romeo and Juliet love story.

 

~*~

 

Who needed a therapist when you had dogs with cute, wiggly tails and a reluctant shop owner who owned you too much to send you away? Seung-gil definitely not.

 

Sitting on the floor, Seung-gil picked up one of the pups, a mutt it seemed but he- correction, she, was adorable nonetheless. Maybe even cuter with the mismatched patches of fur. “Who is the cutest,” he cooed, scratching the dog behind her ears. The dog let out a noise of content and Seung-gil melted. “Yes you are,” he added, nuzzling the dog. He should have done something non-food or health-related, because he could have a dog and didn’t have to crash Plisetsky’s shop after hours to see one.

 

It seemed that Plisetsky was done feeding the rodents as he plopped down on one of the chairs, catching the attention of few of the dogs. The traitors.

 

“You really should invest in a therapist,” Plisetsky said, throwing him a half-hearted glare. “Because my dogs aren’t always available to be your pillow to cry in.”

 

Hugging the dog closer to him, Seung-gil downright glared at Plisetsky. It had its desired effect, as Plisetsky flinched a little. The only who was really immune to his glare was Phichit, the reason unknown. Chu- no, Phichit, seemed like the person who would flinch at the littlest thing, especially Seung-gil’s infamous glare that could make grown men cry. But his glare didn’t seem to work on him, no matter how hard they tried.

 

“You don’t understand; it seems that Phichit doesn’t understand the essence of _rivalry_. He probably is inches away from making friendship bracelets,” Seung-gil groaned into the pup’s fur. “He also seems immune to my glare, which means that my greatest strength is useless. Also, sooner or later, I have to close my bakery because Phichit has stolen all my customers with his charming smiles and well-behaved manners.”

 

He was expecting Plisetsky to roll his eyes and say that he had to get over it, that he was childish with the whole rivalry thing. Seung-gil had heard that so many times- Yuuri, Yuuri’s husband, Giacometti, Giacometti’s husband. So many people. But, when Seung-gil looked up from the pup, he was greeted with an unfitting look on Plisetsky’s face.

 

It was a thoughtful look. Slant eyebrows subtly drew together, eyes narrowed, and his tongue was peeking out between parted lips.

 

“Since when are you calling Chulanont Phichit?” Plisetsky asked, offering Seung-gil an odd look.

 

What kind of question was that? Why would that matter?

 

“He insisted,” Seung-gil answered, eyeing Plisetsky with puzzlement. “Why does that matter? It’s just a name- he’s still my rival. Why again did he have to open his patisserie here and not somewhere else?”

 

It seemed that Seung-gil wasn’t making a strong point, as Plisetsky’s expression grew even more unfamiliar and confusing. Seung-gil had no idea what the owner was feeling or thinking, and he _hated_ that. Hell, it even seemed that Plisetsky managed to make his body language unreadable, something Seung-gil _was_ able to read rather well.

 

Out of seemingly nowhere, Plisetsky started to cuss loudly. “Fuck,” he started, scaring off the dogs with his loud noises. “Are you fucking kidding me! Now I own Katsuki _money_. Thanks a lot.”

 

An angry Plisetsky wasn’t particularly frightening, but Seung-gil did wonder what he did to anger Plisetsky so much. And, foremost, what kind of bet Plisetsky and Yuuri had going on- Yuuri didn’t particularly seem the type to bet, and it clearly seemed to involve him? Maybe it was the first name base Phichit, and he was on was what trigged Plisetsky?

 

Offered Plisetsky a deadpanned look, Seung-gil just shrugged and returned his attention back to the pup. “You’re welcome.”

 

He was delighted to hear Plisetsky growl.

 

“I hate you, Lee,” Plisetsky snapped, the words lacking any impact. Plisetsky obviously had grown soft over the years.

 

“The feelings are mutual,” Seung-gil offered. “But seriously- how can I get Phichit to realise that there is no space for friendship in this cutthroat business.”

 

Plisetsky let out a barking laughter.

 

“Cutthroat business,” he wheezed, pinking away a non-existing tear. “Seriously? You two _bake_ for a living. You two aren’t assassins. _Then_ it would be a cutthroat business.”

 

Maybe he should find a therapist after all, as Plisetsky clearly wasn’t much of help.

 

~*~

 

February the 13th was always an interesting day. Yuuri’s flower shop is a shy half-an-hour away from closing, but there were literally no customers to be found. Maybe people already had already bought their Valentine gifts, or they would rush to the shop in the morning to buy a last minute gift. Thankfully, Yuuri had moved his opening hour to seven ‘o clock instead of nine, as Valentine was a very profitable day for a florist. Making profit of love-sick fools was always worth the extra hours.

 

Unlike Yuuri, Seung-gil was sure he still had some customers making last-minute purchases as some of the food would be sold for cheap at the end of the day. But he had opted to ditch work and let his cashier handle the last few customers. Also, he had to fetch the floral arrangements he had order from Yuuri for Valentine day and now seemed the best moment.

 

Ten minutes into Yuuri’s shop, Seung-gil almost had forgotten why he even was there. He often chatted a little with Yuuri, as Seung-gil was actually fond of him, but this time his was focused solely on the two figures across the street.

 

Leo de la Iglesia owned the music store next to Yuuri’s shop. He was about a year younger than Seung-gil, with chin-length brown hair, tan skin and the ever-present thick eyebrows. The absolutely smitten look he was given the other shop owner was also something noteworthy.

 

Said shop owner worked in across Leo’s shop, he owned an Arts & Craft store with a workplace in the back. Guang Hong Ji, along with Kenjirou Minami, were Hasetsu’s sweethearts. Ji- no, Guang Hong? Why did everyone insist on talking on the first-name basis?- was a couple of inches shorter than Leo, with reddish-brown hair, pale skin, freckles and the most love-struck expression on his face that Seung-gil had the horror to witness.

 

He knew that the two have some kind of infatuation towards each other, but like most crushes, Seung-gil had expected it to whittle after a while. After all, there had been plenty of romance in Hasetsu street, some resulting in marriage, most resulting in heartbreaks. But it seemed that the two were completely and utterly besotted with one another. And it wasn’t even Valentine day, yet.

 

“They’re so dense,” Seung-gil commented.

 

Surprisingly, Yuuri stopped bustling around the shop and opted to plop down on the chair next to Seung-gil. Where it came from, he wasn’t sure. Usually, Yuuri would just chat with Seung-gil while doing things in the shop, he rarely stopped to focus on talking.

 

“They’re,” Yuuri said. “They have been dancing around each other for a year, at least.”

 

It was true. Pretty much from the moment, Guang Hong had settled down in Hasetsu street, which was about a year ago, the two had been dancing around each other. He was the newest addition to Hasetsu street- after Phichit. You would have expected that either Plisetsky or Minami would be the newest ones, as they were Guang Hong’s age. But Minami got the shop after his uncles unexpectedly passed away, putting a temporary halt on his dancing career, and Plisetsky got the shop from his grandpa, who had gotten too old to take care of the animals.

 

“I’m surprised that they do hit it off,” Seung-gil said, hating how much of a gossiper he had become. Yuuri truly brought out the worst out of him.

 

Yuuri shook his head, grinning. “I’m not.”

 

_Not_?

 

“Shoot.”

 

“For starters, answer this question: what’s Leo’s type?”

 

Seung-gil was clueless. “Well, not bossy, I guess?” he really didn’t know.

 

Yuuri snickered, taking his sweet time cleaning his glasses, leaving Seung-gil in suspense. He hadn’t cared about such a thing before, but now he was curious.

 

“You see,” Yuuri said, pushing his glasses back in place. “Leo doesn’t have a type per se. During a drunk confession, he had admitted he wouldn’t mind if they were cute, but the most important thing to him is that he gets along with them. The dynamic has to be right. They have to slot right into his life and he into theirs, like two puzzle pieces.”

 

Well, Seung-gil could admit that Guang Hong was by a landslide the most adorable men running around Hasetsu, with Minami coming a close second. Phichit probably would be third- never mind that. Guang Hong was adorable, but also very likeable. He was sweet and kind, but he stood up for himself, and he was sassy to some extent, at least more than one would expect from him.

 

“And let me guess, Guang Hong thinks the same,” Seung-gil said.

 

Yuuri hummed in agreement. “Minus the cute factor- though he thinks Leo is pretty handsome. It’s disturbing how many things people spill when they’re drunk.”

 

For a long time, actually, for as long as Seung-gil had lived in Hasetsu street, he had been convinced that either Giacometti or Popovich was the biggest gossipers, with his money on the former. It seemed that he had been wrong all along. Katsuki Yuuri was the real gossip queen among them. Involuntary, but as he was the only sober one at their seasonal get-together, he probably was one of the very few who actually remembers things the day after. Seung-gil most definitely didn’t.

 

“Yet, you still attend our seasonal get-together.”

 

He shouldn’t have said that.

 

As Yuuri grinned cheekily, Seung-gil wished he could turn the clock back a few minutes.

 

“Well, someone has to be sober to fill in all the things you drunkards have forgotten,” Yuuri said smoothly, eyes bright with amusement.

 

Seung-gil knew that Yuuri was a nice person. He was a sweet guy, and he never would misuse the information he gained during their seasonal get-together. But it still made Seung-gil nervous, because he put a lot of trust, a lot of embarrassing secrets, in the only slightly capable hands of Katsuki Yuuri. Yuuri had so much blackmail material on them that Seung-gil rather became friends with Phichit than getting on Yuuri’s bad side.

 

“Please spare me from another recap of the Giacometti incident.”

 

He knew he was an affectionate drunk. Awfully cuddly, loose-tongued and foremost, he apparently liked the make out with others. Well, other _guys_. Admittedly, there weren’t that many women amongst the shop owners, but he never had the urge to make out with Crispino- the female one, or Babicheva, not even taking in consideration that the male Crispino would skin him alive. Hell, he rather made out with the older Crispino than his sister, which was saying a _lot_.

 

So, as an affectionate drunk, he somehow had managed to make out with Giacometti, the guy who owned the place where they held their seasonal get-together. The age difference wasn’t horrifying, Giacometti was only five years old- but he was _married_ and absolutely a menace. A menace who willingly made out with him it appeared, at least according to Yuuri’s long and awkward retelling of their not exactly pg smooching. That was the day Seung-gil swore he would never drink past his limit, which up until now seemed to work as his kissing count had been zero since the Giacometti incident.

 

“I’ll, don’t you worry, but.” Yuuri moved the chair, so it faced Seung-gil. Great, this was going to be a heart-to-heart talk. “I want to talk with you about something, and it’s funny since you sort of brought it up a bit ago.”

 

So Seung-gil had dug his own grave, great.

 

Propping his head on his hands, Yuuri gave him a pointed look. “I want you to be honest with me and answer this question truthfully. Do you have a crush on someone?”

 

Seung-gil knew his face was a blank wall of emotions- unreadable, but his mind was running way too many hours per hour. Crush? Did he have a crush on anyone? No- he didn’t. He had no time for romance. But what if Yuuri thought he had a crush on either Leo or Guang Hong? That could be plausible as he was on first-name basis with both of them. He definitely did _not_ have a crush on either of them.

 

“No,” Seung-gil said curtly.

 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Yuuri let out a long sigh. “And you call _them_ dense.”

 

Yuuri was rarely wrong about these things- the guy was pretty good at picking on small cues and other things, so maybe he noticed something Seung-gil didn’t. But on the other hand- it still didn’t make sense.

 

“So, you’re saying I have a crush on someone, but _I_ didn’t notice?”

 

Grinning, Yuuri nodded. “Yup,” he popped the ‘p’. “For a while- a couple of months at least, but I actually expected you to figure it out yourself by now. But I might have forgotten how dense you are. You wouldn’t realise you were in love if it hit you smack-dab in the face.”

 

Well, that wasn’t a lie. But Seung-gil had little time to dwell on that- his mind had different priorities.

 

“You must be kidding,” he said, voice strained and oddly pitched. “I don’t do crushes- how do crushes even work?”

 

A horrible feeling settled down low in his stomach. “Please tell me that it isn’t Plisetsky,” now he sounded borderline panicked. What if he had a crush on Plisetsky? He barely could tolerate that guy! But he never liked someone before, so maybe tolerating someone was the same as loving someone… but wouldn’t that mean he was madly in love with Yuuri? That guy was the one he could tolerate the most of all the people he knew from Hasetsu street.

 

Yuuri let out a strangled laugh and shook his head, eyes tearing slightly up. “No, not Yurio,” he said, voice borderline hysterical, but probably from laughing. “Oh god, do you even know how love works?”

 

Usually, one had to try their best to get Seung-gil all worked up. You really had to try. In the end, it seemed to talk about love, and unknown crushes was a very good way to get him all riled up, as he was completely and utterly lost what to do.

 

“No?” he said, throwing his arm up in the air. “Am I supposed to know? I never had a crush, my first kiss was a girl from back in high school, and that was because I was roped into playing spin-the-bottle. Is tolerance considered love?”

 

“Cancel any dinner plants you have,” Yuuri said. “Tonight I’m giving you a crash course on how love works, and lesson number one: tolerance isn’t considered love.”

 

Seung-gil was pretty sure his brain just crashed, only one thought playing on loop. “Now you’re quoting Mulan to me.”

 

It was Yuuri’s turn to throw his hands up in the air and offer Seung-gil the biggest and meanest glare he could muster, which wasn’t a lot. “You have no idea how love works, but you recognise a song from a direct-to-video movie?”

 

“In my defence, I think my brain just short-circuited,” and then, of course, the whole thing came crashing right back, and Seung-gil wished his brain had actually cashed. He really needed to take a day off, tomorrow preferably. He didn’t want to deal with the sudden realisation that he had a _crush_ on Valentine’s day of all days.

 

Wait- he was the owner of that shop. He _couldn_ _’t_ take the day off. Fuck.

 

~*~

 

You would expect once you figure out you have a crush that you probably would know who it is. Seung-gil was absolutely and utterly clueless. Like, was it Leroy? Please, don’t let it Leroy- everyone but Leroy. But that wouldn’t have made sense, who in heavens name would fall in love with a married man? Seung-gil certainly not- he had moralities, he had common sense, and common sense told him he didn’t have a crush on Leroy. But still, that didn’t particularly assure him, as he was still clueless. If it wasn’t Leroy, then who? He doubted it was either Guang Hong or Leo- he would have at least shown signs of jealousy when the two got all gross and cuddly. The only other bachelor that remained was Phichit- who was absolutely out of the equation. He, a crush on Phichit? Being friends was already farfetched with their rivalry, and he wasn’t going to give the people the satisfaction of a star-crossed lovers story. He had sworn, after all, that he wouldn’t let it turn into a Romeo and Juliet retelling.

 

Nonetheless, despite losing sleep over the matter and begging Yuuri to tell him who it is, Seung-gil moved on with life the best he could. February bled into March, and the weather started to pick up slightly. Daylight became less sparse, the sun rarely was hidden behind a blanket of clouds, and the first few flowers started to pop up. Spring had arrived, and along with it, people’s behaviour changed a little.

 

Only last weekend the repair shop a few houses down had done their spring cleaning, Seung-gil had never seen so many tools in one place and seriously wondered how they managed to fit it all in their tiny repair shop. Maybe Babicheva and Altin were also wizards- maybe the entire street was made out of wizards and Seung-gil was the poor soul that was just human and absolutely clueless, or they at least thought he had no clue. He was definitely onto them.

 

Also, both Giacometti’s cafe and Popovich’s coffee shop had set up their outside area again, offering the customers a chance to enjoy the gentle breeze and the warmth of the sun. Another thing that seemed to come with the spring weather was _love_. Love was in the air, despite that the most romantic day of the year already had passed. There were couples everywhere, some were bickering, some were just being adorably cute together, and others were edging on the border of public indecency.

 

This was worse than Valentine’s day, as that was just a one-day hell and it was over. This lasted for _ages_ , and in the past, Seung-gil never really minded. But now, taking in mind he apparently had a crush on someone, someone both he and Yuuri knew, all the love made him anxious. He simply wasn’t made for love; it was as easy as that.

 

Letting out a deep sigh, Seung-gil continued busying himself in the kitchen, whipping up an order for later in the day. He was happy that he bothered to hire a few others. Currently, the cashier busied himself with the customers, leaving Seung-gil doing what he liked the most. Baking. Especially when his mind was doing overtime.”

 

There was a knock on the door, followed by his employee talking. “Lee, sir,” he started. “Someone is here to see you.”

 

Frowning at his dough, Seung-gil cleaned up in a hurry and entered the shop, wondering who was there to see him. He had told his employees that if it was Phichit, they had to warn him, so it couldn’t be him. They knew Yuuri so they would mention his name too.

 

He was prepared for a lot, but not a tiny body straight up launching himself at him, holding him like his life depended on it.

 

Frozen on the spot, he was pretty sure everyone knew he _hated_ physical affection, Seung-gil looked around the shop in a mild panic.

 

Surprisingly, he was the only one who was panicking. His employee was grinning behind his hand, he was the first one to go if Seung-gil was going to fire people, and the customers were in different stages of cooing and smiling. It didn’t help the majority of his customers were elderly ladies who had been telling him he should consider settling down with a nice bloke, Chulanont from a few houses down the street was a sweet guy.

 

Not. He wasn’t going to settle down with anyone, especially not Phichit. Why couldn’t these ladies realise that they had a fierce rivalry going on? Who would settle down with their own bloody rival?

 

“You need to help me.”

 

Seung-gil had almost forgotten about the guy who was hugging the daylight out of him. He couldn’t see a face, and his voice was muffled, but he dared to believe this was Guang Hong, both taking in the factor that the guy was short. There were only two rather short guys in Hasetsu street, and Minami didn’t have brown hair, and the guy smelled strongly like paint and glue, a smell that belonged to no other place than the Arts & Craft store Ji- Guang Hong damn it- owned.

 

“We’ll be in the back,” Seung-gil said. “Don’t bother us unless it’s important.”

 

After freeing himself from Guang Hong’s death grip, Seung-gil dragged him into the kitchen. His office was upstairs to optimise the kitchen-space downstairs, and he didn’t like to invite people upstairs, so the kitchen had to do for now.

 

“Sit,” he said, pulling a chair from somewhere and pushes the distressed shop owner gently down. “And explain- you must have a good reason to barge into my shop without pardon.”

 

Guang Hong visibly shrunk in size, eyes wide with fright. Shit- he was glaring. He was trying to help the guy, not scaring him away.

 

“I’m sorry,” Guang Hong babbled. “I just- I panicked, and I didn’t know where to go except here.”

 

That was... odd. They were barely even friends- Disney reference intended- and now Guang Hong thought _he_ was the best option to go to in this state of distress. Unless he needed someone to handle a nasty customer, Seung-gil had no idea what the shop owner wanted from him.

 

“Yuuri is an option,” Seung-gil said. “Or Phichit, or _Leo_. You two are very close- he probably can handle your problems better than I.”

 

At the mention of Leo’s name, Guang Hong’s face grew flustered, his eyes found interest in the clean kitchen floor. Oh no, Seung-gil wasn’t going to touch this subject, not even with a ten-foot-long pole. He wasn’t ready to listen to Guang Hong moan over Leo- hell no.

 

“You’re coming to me for love advice!” Seung-gil exclaimed, voice already borderline hysterical. Why him? Why did people come to him for love advice? “I didn’t even realise I had a crush on someone- I don’t even know _who_ because Yuuri is an ass- ’till Yuuri pointed it out. How can I help you with your crush on Leo when I’m horrible with love?”

 

He had honestly expected Guang Hong to flinch, bolt, or at least look remotely frightened. Instead, he looked up in surprise, eyes brimming with many emotions, most of them Seung-gil couldn’t even come close to figuring out.

 

“You have a crush on someone?” Guang Hong asked, voice filled with surprise. “But you don’t know who?”

 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Seung-gil nodded. “Yes, apparently. I just said that, didn’t I?”

 

And all the joy had faded. Once again, Guang Hong was looking down. He probably was glaring, again, damn it. Why in heavens name did Guang Hong come to him with something like this? Like he had mentioned before, Phichit or Yuuri would be much better options.

 

“Why me though?”

 

Guang Hong blinked in surprise, a few tears rolled down his cheeks, but he didn’t seem to notice.

 

“Well...” he fidgeted nervously in his seat, avoiding eye contact at all cost. “Yuuri would tease me, and so would Phichit, actually, most people would.”

 

Seung-gil felt his heart clench as embarrassment spread over Guang Hong’s features, from his red cheeks and nose to the tips of his ears and neck. He was embarrassed about his feelings, embarrassed enough that he was frightened that his very own friends would make fun of them.

 

“They wouldn’t,” Seung-gil said curtly before turning heel.

 

Rummaging through one of the cabinets, Seung-gil managed to find his stash of chocolate. It was the best comfort food in the world, and it seemed that Guang Hong needed it, a lot.

 

“I know Yuuri, he wouldn’t make fun of you or your feelings,” Seung-gil said, ungracefully dumping a bar of chocolate on Guang Hong’s lap. “I mean, yes, he’s tease, and it will be annoying, but he would give splendid advice in the end.”

 

That was a bit of a lie, as otherwise, Seung-gil would already have a name to link to his supposed crush. Though, on the other hand, Yuuri had immediately jumped to his aid, trying to help him understanding ‘love’. He still didn’t understand it, but he knew the symptoms of a crush by now. Sweating, rapidly beating heart, more smiles than normal, which wasn’t too hard for him as he _never_ smiled.

 

“Nonetheless, spill,” Seung-gil took the second chair and placed him opposite of Guang Hong. “Your insecurities, the reason why you’re coming to an emotional stumped person for things like love advice.”

 

To his relieve, Guang Hong unclenched his fists and took a gentle hold of the chocolate bar, fiddling around with the wrapper. Now he understood how Plisetsky felt when he voiced his frustrations. It was awkward, very, _very_ awkward.

 

“So, as you apparently know, I have a big fat crush on Leo,” Guang Hong tore a piece of wrapper off. “And things are going fine between us, friendship-wise of course,” he added in a hurry, taking a large bite out of the bar.

 

There was going to be a but, a reason why Guang Hong was so worried about his non-existing love life.

 

“I am too scared to ask him out because a no would destroy everything. I mean, Leo is my best friend, the last thing I want is making it awkward between us. So, I decided to let it ease and.... wait? Enjoy our friendship and hope that things will transition smoothly into a relationship. But today, I overheard a few women talk in my shop and I just, well, panicked.”

 

Seung-gil wasn’t going to lie, the gossip that went around these places was destroying. Rumours of cheating- which were most of the times lies- bachelors who were set up with every old ladies’ lovely granddaughter, rumours of fraud. The weaker people had crumbled under pressure in the past, and it seemed that Guang Hong was also feeling the pressure of what Seung-gil assumed was a love-related rumour involving Leo.

 

“Listen, for starters,” he gently placed a hand on Guang Hong’s knee. “Rumours by the customers are more often false than not. If the customers had their way, I would have been set up with multiple men in the past, _and_ they’re still hinting that Phichit and I would make a lovely couple- I don’t even like Phichit.”

 

The raised eyebrow Guang Hong went completely past him as Seung-gil focused himself on the wall behind Guang Hong.

 

“I know that,” Guang Hong whispered. “Yuuri told me, still-”

 

A sharp breath followed before Guang Hong _finally_ explained what was going on. “They were talking about Leo and this girl, one of his employees, and they said that they would make a lovely couple.”

 

That wasn’t new, people were paired up so many time that he lost count.

 

“Then they said they heard rumours he was going to ask her out, you know, on a date, and,” more tears started to roll down Guang Hong’s face. “Well, I _know_ she likes Leo, she even came to me asking for advice, and I assume that Leo likes her back. After all, she’s a great girl. She works part-time at Leo’s shop and spends the rest of her time studying, studying to become a _doctor_. How can I ever beat something like that? A doctor. She is not only pretty but also smart, charismatic and a very kind person. I can’t compete with that and I just, well, didn’t know what to do next, so I panicked, asked someone else to take over the register and fled to here.”

 

... So, okay, Seung-gil was dense enough not to realise he had a crush and on _who_ , but he clearly hadn’t been wrong about labelling Guang Hong as dense. Yes, he had realised his feelings, but he was too blind to see that Leo was head over heels in love with him. It wasn’t the crush level of liking that Seung-gil had, it was adoration, infatuation, maybe even love. They liked each other so much, yet Guang Hong was too insecure to see that Leo was absolutely smitten with him.

 

“You know what’s funny, Yuuri called me dense, which is fair,” Guang Hong shyly nodded in agreement. “But you’re also dense as hell. I mean, even _I_ noticed how in love the two of you are with each other- actually, everybody who doesn’t view life through pink glasses can see the adoring gazes Leo offers you, how absolutely smitten he’s with you.”

 

This, clearly, seemed to render Guang Hong speechless.

 

“You’re kidding,” he said, disbelief laced between the words. “You’re lying, right?”

 

“No, I don’t like lying,” Seung-gil growled. “You could ask everyone, Phichit, Yuuri, Plisetsky, Babicheva, Crispino, both of them, everyone knows. Literally nobody important thinks that Leo sees her more than a friend and an employee.”

 

Still, Guang Hong didn’t seem convinced. Why was it so hard for people to believe things? Guang Hong was a great guy, so why didn’t he think he couldn’t compete with someone else? Brains and your job wasn’t everything- clicking seamlessly into each other’s life was much more important.

 

Damn, he started to sound like Yuuri. He should start spending more time with Plisetsky to get rid of all the jittery and happy feelings Yuuri radiated.

 

“I think I’m going to cry.”

 

Seung-gil desperately hoped these tears were tears of happiness. They probably were, but he still was unsure how to handle a bawling Guang Hong, happy or not.

 

How was he going to handle this? Hug Guang Hong? Hugging wasn’t really his thing- he probably would make things more awkward. Should he fetch someone else to calm Guang Hong? That might be the best option. He could easily run down the street and steal Phichit away from a bit, he was at least better with this kind of stuff.

 

As if his prayers had been answered, there was a loud knock on the door, followed by his employee's muffled voice.

 

“Chulanont is here.”

 

Watching as Guang Hong kept on crying- by now it must be happiness and stress combined because otherwise, you wouldn’t cry for so long- Seung-gil decided that for once, he was going to be Phichit’s friend and let him help, voluntarily.

 

“Let him in.”

 

Weariness didn’t fit Phichit, but it was the look he was wearing when he cautiously entered the kitchen. He probably was expecting Seung-gil to hit him over the head or something like that.

 

Thankfully, his expression softened when his gaze fell upon the sniffing Guang Hong, who was trying to cover up his crying with furiously wiping away his tears and ducking his head.

 

“Oh dear, what did you do?”

 

The accusation was thrown Seung-gil’s way, which did hurt. He did nothing, at least purposely, to make Guang Hong cry.

 

Getting up from his chair, Seung-gil straightened his back, looming slightly over Phichit. To his surprise, Phichit flinched, which never happened before. His glare had never worked on Phichit before.

 

“I didn’t do anything,” Seung-gil said, narrowing his eyes at Phichit. “If that’s what you think. Anyway, what brings you here.”

 

Unconsciously, he moved so that he was shielding Guang Hong from view.

 

“Yuuri,” was Phichit’s short answer. “He saw Guang Hong leaving his shop, looking distressed, and foremost enter yours and well,” Phichit smiled awkwardly. “You aren’t the best person when it comes to... well...”

 

“Emotions, I know,” Seung-gil snapped. “And fairly enough, I have no idea what I’m doing- but the accusation did hurt, you know. I do _care_ about people.”

 

Phichit looked like a hurt puppy, but there was also regret, bright and clear on his face. He actually looked guilty, like he wished he hadn’t said that. That was new.

 

There was a loud cough, and Seung-gil realised with a start that Guang Hong was still there. He sort of had forgotten about him, too busy arguing with Phichit. Oh dear, this was embarrassing.

 

“It’s fine, Phichit,” Guang Hong croaked.

 

Daring to look at Guang Hong, Seung-gil was greeted with the sight of a watery yet honest smile. It seemed that the truth finally had settled in.

 

“Are you sure?” Phichit asked, worry clear in his voice. “You know that if you ever need advice, you can always ask- I’ll always be there for you.”

 

Momentarily forgetting his brief spat with Phichit, he threw Guang Hong a smug ‘told you so’. He knew that Phichit would be sitting there, listening to Guang Hong and would do everything in his might to assure him that everything was fine.

 

“Wipe that smug grin off your face,” Guang Hong grumbled, throwing a piece of the chocolate wrapper at Seung-gil’s face.

 

Blinking innocently, Seung-gil shrugged. “I have no idea what you mean.”

 

This time Guang Hong threw a piece of chocolate and actually hit home. “I should have gone to Yuuri after all.”

 

Guang Hong was god honest pouting. How old was he, twelve?

 

“Please do that the next time,” Seung-gil offered Guang Hong a meek smile. “I’m terrible at giving love advice.”

 

He heard Phichit inhale sharply and Guang Hong started to grow red in the face.

 

Shit. Now he had to explain _what_ had happened- and he doubted that Guang Hong was happy to retell Phichit everything that leads to him breaking down for no reason at all, as Leo was absolutely smitten with him. Actually, he wasn’t in the mood to explain everything to Phichit. Hell, he wasn’t in the mood for Phichit.

 

“The bathroom is around the corner if you’re interested,” Seung-gil offered, hoping that he would bail Guang Hong out of an awkward situation.

 

Thankfully, Guang Hong got the hint and got up in a hurry, fleeing the kitchen with a soft and fragile ‘thank you’.

 

Turning around, Seung-gil was ready to take on the world. Or at least Phichit.

 

He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready for Phichit’s fond smile, the brightness of his eyes, the _pride_ that looked out of place.

 

It was as if the capability of speaking had left Seung-gil. Damn Phichit and his sorcery tricks, he shouldn’t have sent Guang Hong away, he wasn’t made for tackling Phichit on his own.

 

“That was nice,” Phichit said, voice soft and vulnerable. “I feel stupid for even doubting you- you're a good guy.”

 

Scrunching his nose in disgust, Seung-gil shook his head. “I’m not, I just hate seeing him being eaten alive by his own insecurity and gossiping ladies.”

 

Phichit chuckled. “Eaten alive by gossiping ladies,” he muttered under his breath. “But in all seriousness, what was it?”

 

Biting his lip, Seung-gil stared at the floor, his posture slumping. “He was scared, not only that his crush on Leo wasn’t mutual, but that Leo would start dating one of his employees, the pre-med student.”

 

“Ah,” Phichit said, nodding in understand. “Yeah, I have ladies talking about the two of them together before, they seem like the perfect pair on paper.”

 

Seung-gil felt his lips curl up into a wry smile. “Yes, on paper.”

 

“Have you told him that Leo, well...”

 

“Yes.”

 

Phichit let out a nonsensical noise. “So they were tears of happiness.”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“You should give yourself more credit,” Phichit said. “You would be an amazing older brother.”

 

Hell no. Next time he was going to just throw his hands up in the air and send the next poor soul to Yuuri or Phichit. He wasn’t ready to become an older brother figure to a group of young adults- he didn’t even know what he was doing with his own life, not to mention that he had to guide some poor, young souls through their adult life.

 

~*~

 

Hasetsu street was low-key like a tightly bound family. And there was no family without its own family shenanigans, only they were a bit… odder than your usual shenanigans. The spiked punch of last year was still fresh on people’s mind, and not to forget the green dye mishap. Seung-gil’s food was green, Popovich’s coffee and snacks were green and the worst of them all, one of Crispino’s, the female one, wedding dresses had turned a minty green colour. It was the oddest St Patrick celebration they had- and none of them was Irish. Not that it seemed to deter the pranksters.

 

So, this situation wasn’t particularly surprising, though Seung-gil couldn’t say he wasn’t delighted.

 

Thirty minutes after closing time, he had been alarmed by loud shouts and curses from across the street, probably Plisetsky’s place. It wasn’t uncommon for the guy to make a commotion, though usually the shouting and cursing stopped after a few times. A minute passed, and Seung-gil decided that it probably was more than just a cat trying to escape.

 

Grabbing his keys in a hurry, he slipped out of the shop. It was downright chaos on the street. It seemed that it was more than just a cat that tried to escape. Dogs and cats were running all over the street, a few rodents were hopping around enjoying their freedom. They were causing havoc among the few shoppers and the store owners, well, the shoppers mostly.

 

Leroy and his wife, Isabella, hurried out of the shops a minute-or-so after Seung-gil had entered the streets. Unsurprisingly, Leroy just threw his head back and laughed loudly. In return, his wife gently swatted his head before starting to chase the escaped animals, not even questioning what happened.

 

Not wanting to look like a jerk, and foremost, not wanting to be like Leroy and stand on the sideline laughing, Seung-gil crouched down and started to make encouraging noises, trying to get the attention of the dogs. He wasn’t good with cats, but dogs he could do.

 

“Come here dear,” Seung-gil encouraged, holding his arms wide open for the dog to come to him. He recognised her with ease- it was his favourite dog from Plisetsky’s store, even though he would forever deny that. For whatever reason, the mutt had caught his heart without even trying. “Come to papa.”

 

He ignored Leroy’s sudden hackling and coughing in favour of scooping the not-so-little-anymore ball of fur in his arms.

 

“Gotcha,” he cooed, nuzzling the pup's neck. “Now we should get you home.”

 

When he looked up from nuzzling the pup, he was surprised that the count of people had increased. Yuuri was handling one of the more temperamental cats, being the only one smart enough to put on gloves, even though they were just gardening gloves. Yuuri’s husband, Nikiforov, was bribing the dogs with treats. Guang Hong was carrying a woven basket around with what looked like rabbits. Occasionally, one of the people would drop another caught rodent in the basket, probably also melting at the sight of Guang Hong with bunnies.

 

He gently handed the pup over to Altin, who probably knew the shop the best next to Plisetsky and knew where her kennel was.

 

“Thanks,” Altin said, readjusting his hold on the pup. “Chulanont might need your help,” he added, his eyes lighting up a little.

 

Looking around, he saw Sara was co-teaming with her fiancé Babicheva. While the younger Crispino twin was distracting a few cats with pieces of leftover fabric, Babicheva hurriedly plucked them off the ground and put them in carriers. That was for everyone’s sanity, as there were plenty of cats that didn’t want to trade their freedom away. Minami was wrestling with a cat- and it seemed that the cat was winning. The older Crispino twin had teamed up with Nekola- the owner of the sports shop two doors down the street- trying to scoop up the escape mice. By far the dogs seemed to be the easiest. Unless you were the Phichit, who was fruitlessly chasing a dog.

 

No way that Phichit would actually catch up with the dog, which meant that he would be chasing the poor thing until the end of time.

 

Whistling sharply, Seung-gil sat down on his knees and clapped loudly. Keeping his voice nice and gently, he urged the dog on to come to him.

 

It seemed to work perfectly, as the dog completely forgot about Phichit and run towards Seung-gil, basically leaping into his outstretched arms.

 

The dog slobbered all over his face, happily licking his ears. Making sure to keep his mouth closed, Seung-gil scratched behind the dog’s ears without a single care of the world.

 

“Are you… okay?”

 

He hadn’t noticed Phichit approaching them, though on the other hand, it was a bit hard to really focus on anything except the 90 pounds of mountain dog that was slobbering all over him.

 

“I’m fine,” Seung-gil spluttered, almost gagging as the dog had decided to lick his mouth right that moment. “Used to dogs.”

 

After manoeuvring around a bit, Seung-gil managed to get up on two feet with the dog sitting down in front of him, thankfully content with the ear scratches that he was giving him.

 

“Let’s get this bad boy home,” Phichit said, awkwardly patting the dog’s flank. “If he doesn’t run off.”

 

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

 

He was forever thankful the dog was as docile as he had expected. Otherwise thing could have ended sourly. With a surprising amount of ease, he managed to lift the dog off the ground. Now he had an armful and shoulder full of mountain dog. It seemed that being a baker finally paid off.

 

Turning to Phichit, he was greeted by a blushing pasty baker, who looked as equally impressed as surprised.

 

“Isn’t that way too heavy?” Phichit asked, voice higher pitched than normal.

 

Seung-gil shrugged and secured his grip on the dog. It was like holding a ninety-pound child, which wasn’t too bad.

 

“I’ll live.”

 

This seemed to do little to smooth out Phichit’s odd expression, but Seung-gil decided to let him be. He wasn’t going to have a long and pointless conversation while he was carrying such a heavy dog. So, he turned heel and headed straight for the pet shop. Plisetsky offered him a raised eyebrow, before turning around and entering the shop, beckoning Seung-gil to follow him.

 

 

~*~

 

The aftermath of the ‘grand escape’ was… anticlimactic? All the animals that had escaped had been collected and were safely tucked away in their kennels and cages. There were no major injuries, a few scratched but that was all, and everybody could return back to their shops before six, which meant that Seung-gil finally could microwave his dinner.

 

“I’m going to be so sore tomorrow,” he grumbled, stretching his already aching limbs. “I’m getting too old for this.”

 

Looking from the corner of his eyes, Seung-gil wasn’t surprised to see Phichit staring at him, _again_. Maybe he finally had realised that there was no space for friendship among their rivalry. Maybe Seung-gil finally had asserted dominance by carrying a full-grown mountain dog. It would work like that in the animal kingdom- but he was pretty sure this wasn’t the animal kingdom. And no- he wasn’t going to quote Mean Girls. He rather would be found dead at Walmart than being caught quoting teenage movies.

 

“Something wrong?” he asked, watching as Phichit jumped in surprise.

 

“Nothing,” Phichit squeaked, face catching fire. “I’m absolutely fine, really. I have to go back- shop won’t close for another hour.”

 

And with that, Phichit was off in a hurry, leaving several of the lingering shop owners scratching their head.

 

Letting his eyes wander over the few people who mattered to him- he was growing soft- his gaze eventually met Yuuri’s.

 

A wink. Yuuri offered him a _wink._ He had never been more clueless in his life. What did that mean?

 

Blinking a few times, Seung-gil felt a horrible realisation dawn upon him. Was Yuuri telling him that he had a _crush_ on Phichit? Hell no. The whole crush thing was already hard to believe, but crushing on his _rival_? He wasn’t going to start some kind movie-worth forbidden love story. And he especially wasn’t going to be Juliet if that happened.

 

~*~

 

You know, for early May, it was warm. At least for Seung-gil’s standards. Maybe the crowd didn’t help, but for him, three was already a crowd, so he was a bit biased when it came to crowds.

 

Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one suffering. Next to him, sitting on a bar stool, was Guang Hong groaning like a dying man. Seung-gil could hardly blame him- he was inches away from getting rid of his jacket, the only thing withholding him was the fear he would never see it again. It was his favourite jacket- he was rather fond of it, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever get it back, for free at least.

 

“Has Chris never heard from air conditioning?” Guang Hong questioned, pressing his cold glass with water against his neck. “I mean,” this time the focus was laid on Seung-gil. “I would ask him myself, but he is pretty drunk right now so I doubt I would get a proper answer.”

 

Letting his eyes wander to the make-shift dance floor, Seung-gil winched a little. By how _filthy_ Giacometti was dancing with Nikiforov, he guessed that Guang Hong was right. Giacometti was far too drunk to produce a single, proper thought.

 

Seung-gil just shrugged, not sure how to respond. Was air conditioning welcome? Definitely. But if he would suggest that, Giacometti would offer him the bill and ask if Seung-gil was willing to pay for it. He wasn’t, so proposing that idea would be pretty fruitless.

 

“The only option is to strip,” Seung-gil suggested, pushing his jacket off his shoulders. He was glad he decided to wear a tank-top, as anything with long sleeves would have downright killed him.

 

Seung-gil sighed in relief as the slightly cooler air chilled his damp skin. Tying his jacket around his waist, he sat down right back on the barstool, ordering another drink from the barman, Giacometti’s husband.

 

As he downed another glass of alcohol- he was still too sober this- Seung-gil realised that Guang Hong had fallen quiet.

 

Looking up from his half-finished drink, he saw Guang Hong eyeing him with almost hunger. Well, more eyeing his arms in a rather appreciative manner.

 

Was Guang Hong checking him out? Didn’t he like Leo? Hell, why would anyone check _him_ out? There was nothing to look at.

 

Coughing awkwardly, he watches as Guang Hong flinched, growing red in the face and immediately order a strong drink, babbling under his breath.

 

“Shit, I knew I was gay,” Guang Hong muttered. “But I didn’t know I had a thing for arms.”

 

Seung-gil was blinking slowly, not sure _what_ to do with this information. Did he have nice arms? Did Leo have nice arms? Why did Guang Hong had to share that he had a thing for arms? He wasn’t going to share the fact that he had a thing for smiles-

 

Wait, where did that one come from? Since when did he have a thing for smiles? Hell, since when did Phichit appear in his mind when he was thinking about smiles. Nope, he wasn’t going down that road. It was the alcohol talking.

 

So, for safety measures, Seung-gil drowned the rest of his glass. It seemed that Guang Hong was doing the same, only flinching a little as he drowned the way too strong alcohol.

 

Well, Seung-gil knew that this was his limit. More and he knew that he was borderline drunk, drunk enough to make out with the closest by a guy, which in this case was poor Guang Hong.

 

“I don’t like you romantically,” Guang Hong blurted out. “But you do have nice arms- shit, should I tell Leo that he has nice arms?”

 

Well, it seemed that drunk Guang Hong was ‘easier’ to handle. Less insecure, less embarrassed. That was good.

 

Looking around the bar, he saw Leo actually making his way towards them, eyes settled on Guang Hong’s back. For once in his life, he was going to do something selfless and purely for the happiness of his friends- family- the few people he cared about.

 

“Maybe,” Seung-gil said. “Or you can tell him how much you like him.”

 

Guang Hong took a long gulp of whatever strong drink he had ordered. “I don’t like him,” Guang Hong said loudly.

 

It was loud enough for Leo to hear him it seemed, as the man froze on the spot, a heartbroken expression on his face. If Guang Hong didn’t continue, he was going to throttle the guy _after_ he announced to the whole bar that Guang Hong was deeply and madly in love with Leo.

 

Thankfully, Guang Hong continued to babble. “I love him,” he said. “So, so much. But still, I wonder why he would love me. I mean, you said so, Phichit did and so did Yuuri, but still, what does he see in me?”

 

Time to scrap his previous theory, Guang Hong was still a ball of insecurities while intoxicated.

 

“Why don’t you ask him that yourself?”

 

Seung-gil mentally patted himself on the back. Admittedly, most of his boldness came from the alcohol consumption. It was the only moment he was truly remotely comfortable with talking about feelings- usually, it was a rather awkward conversation. Scrap the usually, talking about feelings is something that would always be awkward with him.

 

“Okay,” Guang Hong said, drowning the rest of his drink. “I’ll.” He hopped off the barstool, radiating confidence.

 

So, Guang Hong was both a ball of confidence _and_ a ball of insecurities while drunk. How did that even work? What kind of drunk _was_ Guang Hong?

 

Well, at least not a complete confident drunk, as the moment he saw Leo, he froze on the spot. Not that Leo was faring much better. The guy was still rooted to the spot, smiling dumbly, eyes holding such a fondness that it made Seung-gil almost long for love.

 

Literally, all the shop owners had stopped what they were doing, all the attention was fully focused on Leo and Guang Hong. Not that either of them seemed to notice, Seung-gil supposed they were safely tucked away in their own, little world.

 

For a while, the only noise that could be heard was the pop music droning through the cafe- by how long this song was going on Seung-gil supposed that at least a few minutes had passed before one of them made a move.

 

Leo stepped forwards and took Guang Hong’s hands in his, his smile almost as bright as Phichit’s. Ah, fuck, not again. He should stop consuming alcohol.

 

“Guang Hong Ji, I love you so much,” Leo announced. “Will you marry me?”

 

That was unexpected. Well, he had seen Leo drink a bit, so maybe he was too drunk to think properly. Well, at least Guang Hong was sober-

 

“I would love to!”

 

Beaming, Leo pressed gentle and shy kisses on Guang Hong’s knuckles. “I thought that a spring wedding would be nice.”

 

“To be honest, we could marry on the shittiest day of the year, and I would still say yes.”

 

Oh god- this was going wrong in so many ways. They only just confessed their _love_ , getting married next year seemed a bit farfetched. Reluctantly, Seung-gil slid off his stool and gently took hold of Guang Hong’s elbow.

 

Someone else gently shook Leo’s shoulder, telling the two what Seung-gil was thinking.

 

“Why don’t you wait to discuss this when you’re both sober? There is no need to rush things,” Phichit said, offering Seung-gil a reassuring look. “Plus, maybe engagement rings are handy if you want to end up, well, engaged?”

 

Leo let go of Guang Hong’s hand and slapped himself in the middle of his face. “Oh, I forgot about the rings,” he offered Guang Hong’s the saddest puppy eyes in the history of puppy eyes. “I promise I’ll get the rings in the future.”

 

“Okay.”

 

~*~

 

Handling drunk people was horrible. After a lot persuading, they had managed to talk Guang Hong and Leo into leaving early. The victory was short-lived when both announced they didn’t want to leave their fiancée- they both were such lightweights- so they wanted to sleep in the same bed. The issue was, however, was that both of them had a single bed. So, yeah, Seung-gil wasn’t going to stuff two drunk people in a tiny bed, that was both inhumane and a great health risk. The chance that one of them would topple right out was, well, very likely.

 

So, it was Seung-gil’s place. They were thankfully still capable of walking somewhat decently, at least if they stopped clinging to each other. Seriously, it was as if they were glued together. But, fairly enough, he never had seen either Leo or Guang Hong drunk, both passing off drinks in favour of taking care of their friends who _did_ get drunk, Seung-gil and Phichit both being an example of that. Because Seung-gil knew perfectly well, he was borderline drunk. Not drunk enough to make out with random guys, but his eyes did wander over to Phichit a few too many times. Damn it.

 

“We should go to Europe for our honeymoon,” Leo suggested. “I mean; I would kill to go to Italy.”

 

“That would be lovely,” Guang Hong said, giggling way too loudly. “I also want to go to Holland- Vermeer, Rembrandt, Gogh.”

 

Leo hummed approvingly, though he probably had no idea what Guang Hong was babbling about. Not that Phichit seemed to have any clue either as he shot Seung-gil a confused look.

 

“Dutch painters,” Seung-gil said.

 

The rest of their trip passed in the same manner, Leo and Guang Hong seriously discussing their honeymoon plans. He hoped that both of them would remember this tomorrow because in no way did Seung-gil want to explain what happened. His story about making out with Giacometti was probably even less embarrassing- and that one had been mortifying for both him and Yuuri, who had been the poor soul who had to explain it.

 

“To bed you two go,” Seung-gil said, ushering Guang Hong and Leo into his own bedroom.

 

He was too tired to clean it. There were a few pieces of laundry scattered around, his bed was unmade, and his bookshelves were in the middle of a rearrangement.

 

Thankfully, neither of them mentioned his lived-in bedroom, instead of crashing straight into his double bed, moaning in content.

 

Wrinkling his nose in disgust as Guang Hong started to snuggle into _his_ pillow, he had to do laundry tomorrow, Seung-gil headed over to his nightstand. He wasn’t risking anything- if they were planning on getting married, they might also get the stupid idea to have an early wedding night.

 

Rummaging through the drawer, Seung-gil easily found his not-so-secret stash of lube and condoms. The condoms probably were expired, not that either of them would have noticed in their drunk state, and the bottle of lube was nearly empty. But, once again, horniness and being intoxicated made up for very few rational decisions.

 

Pocketing the items, Seung-gil fetched a few spare blankets and pillows from the closet. He would need them if he were going to sleep on the couch because his couch wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world. But his guest room had been turned into an office space, so a spare bed was non-existing.

 

Checking the two men occupying his bed before leaving, he wasn’t particularly surprised that the two were out cold. They certainly had drunk too much- or they were just lightweights, which wasn’t too farfetched either.

 

Entering the living room, Seung-gil was surprised to see that Phichit was still there. He had expected him to leave as soon as Seung-gil had ushered them off off to bed, after all, there was no reason for him to stay. Actually, Phichit easily could have returned to their seasonal get-together, after all, the guy had barely drunk anything.

 

“You can go back, you know,” Seung-gil said, dropping the blankets and pillows on the empty space of his couch. “I’m not the fondest of these parties, so this gives me a good excuse to leave early, babysitting our newly engaged.”

 

Phichit giggled, hugging his knees closer to his chest. Only now Seung-gil noticed the flush on Phichit’s cheek and how his gaze had become unfocused.

 

“You’re drunk,” Seung-gil pointed out.

 

Surprisingly, Phichit nodded. “Yes- it always takes a bit to kick in,” his speech was slightly slurred, but nothing too bad. “Forgot that I have a terrible alcohol tolerance.”

 

Eyeing his couch, Seung-gil mentally tried to figure out how he could fit two. He wasn’t going to let Phichit walk home alone- the chance he would fall asleep on a random bench was too big, and while the temperature wasn’t too bad, it definitely wasn’t safe.

 

“How can you forget that you have a terrible alcohol tolerance?” Seung-gil asked, hoping to keep Phichit awake long enough to figure things out.

 

Phichit shrugged. “Don’t drink often-” he hiccupped adorably. “But you aren’t drunk? I have seen you drink plenty.”

 

Ignoring the fact Phichit had been keeping an eye on him, Seung-gil grinned crookedly.  “I’m pretty drunk, but I know my limit after a few... incident.”

 

He hated how his eyes flickered to Phichit’s lips. He was perfectly aware that this wasn’t just his affectionate drunk self- it helped, but that was also his overall desire to kiss, Phichit in particularly, straight on the lips.

 

What a moment to realise that his crush was Phichit. Like, seriously, it would have been much easier if it was just one a random day. He would have his internal panic right in the middle of his bakery, struggle through the day before storming off the Yuuri’s flower shop, demanding answers and advice. But no, he had to figure it all out when he was alone with Phichit, both were at least slightly drunk, not to mention that Phichit was an _adorable_ drunk, and he was an affectionate drunk.

 

“Incidents?” Phichit cocked his head a little, eyes big with wonder. “Like, bar-fights?”

 

Snorting a little too loudly, Seung-gil hurriedly looking away, hoping that the shame on his face wasn’t visible. “I’m an affectionate drunk- kissed Leroy years ago and Giacometti about a year ago- swore off alcohol after that.”

 

Phichit licked his lips almost seductively, and Seung-gil felt like the temperature in the room had skyrocketed.

 

It was hard to believe he was attracted to his so-called rival. Maybe he should have tried better to keep up their rivalry- but on the other hand, it clearly never had been a serious thing from the beginning. After all, Seung-gil had rivalries before; classmates who tried to out-do him grade-wise, the count of Valentine gifts one got, Seung-gil was, for whatever stupid reason, always one of the top dogs while barely even talking with the women. Most rivals were willing to strangle him, and the feelings were usually mutual. He never had the urge to strangle Phichit, or being unreasonably rude to him. Annoyed, yes, but downright mean? No. Never. Maybe the rivalry lasted this long because Seung-gil is a stubborn ass and he has no concept of what romance is, of what genuinely _liking_ someone is.

 

“And, did you cross your limit?”

 

Seung-gil hated handing over the control of his body to his basic instincts. He preferred his rational mind. Thinking before acting was always important, but right now, he barely could look away from Phichit’s lip. He really, really wanted to kiss him, kiss his lips, kiss his nose, cheek, neck, every inch of his skin. But on the other hand, the realisation that he liked Phichit was still fresh in his mind. It was basically the same as what happened between Guang Hong and Leo- letting their pend up feelings getting the better of them. He could imagine their regret tomorrow, and he didn’t want to wake up with regret.

 

Finally tearing his gaze away from Phichit’s lips. “No,” he said curtly, snatching up a pillow and blanket. “You can sleep there,” he gestured to the part of the couch Phichit was sitting. “And I’ll sleep here,” he gestured to the completely opposite end of the corner couch.

 

Phichit’s expression fell, which hurt way more than Seung-gil liked. He should have said yes- should have just claimed that kiss. But, consent Oh god, there was also the thing called consent. There would be no consent. Being drunk wasn’t a pass for consent- and the last thing he wanted was doing something without consent, no matter how Phichit seemed to want it right now.

 

After giving Phichit a blanket and pillow, Seung-gil made up his own nest of soft fabrics and curled up, trying to feel as small and safe as possible.

 

It was a good decision. After all, maybe Phichit didn’t even like him. Yuuri had never mentioned that the feelings had been mutual, just that Seung-gil had a crush on someone.

 

Because, why would Phichit like him? Seung-gil had been nothing but rude to him, pushing the whole rivalry thing onto him. Maybe Phichit was also an affectionate drunk and saw Seung-gil as a possible candidate to make out with. After all, you only needed one semi-willing person, and you had someone to kiss when you were craving it the most. He had been there, after all, just never with the right person.

 

~*~

 

Surprisingly, Seung-gil woke up with only a minor headache and some grogginess, but he was fairing well. He couldn’t say the same about Guang Hong, who had woken him up somewhere late into the morning. Thank heavens that it was Sunday- the only one who had to get out of bed was Phichit, who started at one in the afternoon.

 

“Sorry,” Guang Hong croaked. “Didn’t want to go through your things without permission- painkillers?”

 

He sounded as miserable as he looked. Hair an absolute mess, eyes drooping, skin slightly grey. Without a doubt he was nauseous- or he already had hauled himself to the toilet. Well, the one thing Seung-gil could conclude was that he had a headache, considering the request for painkillers.

 

Wrestling himself out of the nest of blankets, he beckoned Guang Hong to follow him. “Bathroom,” he answered. “High shelf.”

 

While he wanted to be kidding, Seung-gil had shelved his painkillers on the highest shelf for an unknown reason. It wasn’t too hard to reach for Seung-gil, but Guang Hong was quite a bit shorter than him, and ill. When your head was threatening to kill you, the last thing you wanted to do was finding a chair to use as a stool to reach the painkillers. Like, that was a recipe for disaster.

 

“Thanks,” Guang Hong said, accepting the pills with trembling hands. “Can’t remember the last time I felt this terrible.”

 

Instead of offering Guang Hong some sympathy, which was illy earned as Guang Hong himself choose to drink, he grabbed a some bottled water and offered it. Swallowing pills dry was one of the worst things in existence.

 

It seemed that getting some fluids, water in particularly, inside of Guang Hong did the trick, as he looked ten times better than he did a handful of minutes ago.

 

“Let’s get to the kitchen, the bathroom is a bit cramped.”

 

He wasn’t kidding. His bathroom was small, barely fitting a shower, a vanity with sink and cabinets and a toilet. That was it, nothing more. There wasn’t even space for a bath. So, fitting in two people made it awfully claustrophobic.

 

“Yeah,” Guang Hong answered, voice strained. He too probably had noticed how tight the space was. “Kitchen sounds good.”

 

~*~

 

Going to the kitchen had been a good idea. Water was boiling for Guang Hong’s tea, and Seung-gil nearly swooned at the familiar sound of his coffee machine humming and groaning.

 

“I-” Guang Hong said, sounding distressed. “My memory is failing me,” he admitted, embarrassment painting his face, neck and ears red. “I can’t remember much after we sat at the bar- I don’t even recall why I even got up, or when.”

 

Damn it, here was the talk. It was too late to wake Phichit up, plus Phichit might not even remember anything either. At least Seung-gil remembered the night perfectly well, though he rather did not.

 

“Well, you’re both a confident and insecure drunk,” Seung-gil said. “So, you were both boosting your love for Leo, before adding that he was way out of your league. Long story short, both of you confessed your love and after that… you got engaged?”

 

With each word Seung-gil uttered, he saw Guang Hong going from embarrassed to a brief moment of joy before pure and utter mortification settled in.

 

“We got… engaged?” Guang Hong asked, voice small and panic-filled.

 

Seung-gil hummed in agreement.

 

Getting up, he fetched his cup of coffee and poured a cup with hot water. Placing both cups on the counter, he rummaged through his cupboard for the tea-bags. His fingers brushed against the wooden box, and he carefully took it out of the cabinet. It was a small miracle he still had tea, as he never drinks tea.

 

After placing the steaming mugs on coasters and handing Guang Hong the box with tea, he plopped down back on the chair.

 

Nursing his cup of coffee, he watched with mild curiosity how Guang Hong put his tea together. His hands were trembling, and right now Seung-gil doubted that it was because of the hangover.

 

“Oh dear,” Guang Hong eventually said, bottom lip trembling. “I was the one who asked- didn’t I? And Leo is too kind to say no, or too drunk.”

 

Drowning a large part of his coffee, it was too early to deal with this, Seung-gil shook his head. “Leo actually asked.”

 

It was wonderful to see Guang Hong going from borderline panicked to shocked.

 

“He _did_?” Guang Hong asked. “And I said yes? Of course I did. Otherwise you wouldn’t have said we’re engaged. But I’m too young to get married, plus we didn’t even have a date yet. What do I do?”

 

Seung-gil was baffled that Guang Hong took this so seriously. There were no rings, and the only ones that had witnessed the proposal were the shop owners, who were also very aware that both parties were intoxicated when it all happened.

 

“Talk about it, and for the sake of everyone’s sanity, please start _dating._ ”

 

Talking was the key to a healthy relationship, at least that had been the wisdom Yuuri had offered him. Talking wasn’t his strong suit, but he could imagine that it would do Leo’s and Guang Hong’s relationship some good, working everything out.

 

For the first time that morning, Guang Hong smile. A genuinely sweet smile that made things looks just a bit more hopeful, something they both needed. Guang Hong because he had to get his head out of his ass and realise that Leo genuinely liked him, and Seung-gil because he needed some happiness. His plausible relationship with Phichit probably had been poured down the drain. Phichit would see his ‘no’ from the previous night as a rejection, which was only fair. Communication was key in a relationship, and now, Seung-gil realised he should have explained himself, explain the no. But, what was done was done, and he couldn’t go back in time and fix his mistake.

 

Eventually, Guang Hong managed to crack a smile. “Even you?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” Seung-gil said. “Even me.”

 

Guang Hong’s smile almost lit up the entire kitchen, which was surprising as his smile was so subtle- yet Seung-gil easily noticed the genuineness of it.

 

A soft knocking on the door frame made their small, serene bubble pop, but Seung-gil didn’t mind the moment he saw an embarrassed and worried looking Leo standing in the door opening.

 

“How much,” Leo chocked on his own words. “How much do you remember?”

 

“Remembering? Not a lot,” Guang Hong said, offering Leo a tender smile. “But Seung-gil told me what happened.”

 

Leo paled, and Seung-gil felt sorry for the guy. It didn’t sound too promising, though Seung-gil doubted that the outcome would be bad for either parties- and otherwise he personally would push the two of them together. He would do everyone, including the two lovebirds, a favour.

 

“I must say, the engagement is a bit… farfetched?” some colour returned to Guang Hong’s face- which was an improvement from the otherwise sickly looking skin. “But I would love to date you- because I mean what I said, I _do_ love you.”

 

When Leo looked to be on the verge of tears, Seung-gil decided to give them a bit of privacy. Also, he probably had to wake up Phichit. He wasn’t cruel, he knew that Phichit had work and needed all the time he could get. Plus, getting over a killer headache was going to be a pain.

 

Closing the kitchen door behind him, Seung-gil was surprised to see Phichit actually awake. Well, he was no longer sleeping. Taking the drowsy look and slouched posture in mind, Seung-gil doubted that Phichit was properly awake.

 

“Oh thank God,” Phichit said, voice rough with sleep. “I thought I accidentally broke into a house, _again_.”

 

_Again_. Phichit had broken into a house before, accidentally. How could you accidentally break into a house? Have the same key as your neighbour and misread the number of the house? It made Seung-gil question his heart for even remotely liking Phichit, though, on the other hand, it wasn’t like Seung-gil was the most desirable person out there. Outside of his looks, which he apparently had but were ruined by his horrible fashion sense according to people, he had nothing to offer. A nice personality? Negative. A fortune? He wished. Good in bed? The pack of expired condoms that had been stocked in his nightstand was saying a lot. Did he even have _anything_ to offer?

 

“Again?” Seung-gil eventually said, realising that Phichit at least was expecting a reaction.

 

Phichit shrugged. “Accidentally broke into Yuuri’s dorm room back in college when I was drunk. If Yuuri and I had ended up together, it would make for a wonderful ‘how I met my husband’ story.”

 

Seung-gil hated himself for mentally cheering that Phichit was at least interested in men. Though, he basically already knew from last night-

 

Actually, he was pretty surprised that Phichit hadn’t brought it up again. Maybe not Seung-gil’s rejection, but at least mentioning the fact that Guang Hong and Leo low-key got engaged yesterday evening.

 

“Wait- how much do you remember from yesterday?”

 

“Not a lot,” Phichit admitted.

 

A few seconds ticked by before Phichit’s shoulders slumped. “Nothing, really. Care to enlighten me, if you still remember?”

 

Suddenly, Seung-gil’s throat felt really, _really_ dry. Phichit didn’t remember his rejection. This meant that the wonderful thing called alcohol tolerance, or the lack thereof, bought him some time to think and figure everything out, and as he was the only one there when they had an intimate moment- he could just lie, or withhold information.

 

“Well, somehow Leo, being drunk, ended up proposing to Guang Hong, without rings, unplanned. Apparently, Guang Hong was drunk enough to say yes- so, I intervened, and so did you. Because they didn’t want to be separated, we brought them to my place as I have a double bed. They went to sleep, I assume, and then you crashed on the couch. I didn’t have the heart to wake you up, so I tucked you in and went to sleep myself.”

 

Phichit grinned in what looked like relief. “I was worried,” he said. “I can be an… overwhelming drunk?”

 

Seung-gil wasn’t sure if the overwhelming drunk was an actual thing, but it did fit Phichit’s drunk state. Though, there was also quite the possibility that it all was very overwhelming for just Seung-gil. After all, he still, _even_ after a good night of sleep, wondered what it was like to press his lips against Phichit’s inviting ones.

 

“Didn’t notice it, so it probably isn’t that bad.”

 

It was sad how easily he managed to lie straight in Phichit’s face. Maybe his seconds chance was more a curse than a blessing, as he doubted that Phichit would ever forgive him for just straight up lying to him over something like this. They were friends- he was supposed to be helpful in this kind of situation, not manipulative and using it to his advantage. He was a terrible human being- why did he ever wonder why he was still single?

 

~*~

 

It had been a week. Just one, bloody week since Seung-gil realised he had a fat crush on Phichit, and Seung-gil wasn’t sure what to do with his life anymore. It showed. His employees noticed, noticed that his usual fierce and strict reactions were lacklustre. He started to look sicklier pale by the day, sleep came in sparse naps and sleepless nights. It didn’t help he barely left the building- too busy with drowning himself in work. However, his employees were paid by him, so they didn’t comment. The other shop owners, however, weren’t paid by him. They didn’t risk losing his job, and it seemed that at least someone had figured that out.

 

“Seung-gil Lee,” Yuuri bellowed as he entered the shop, bluntly ignoring the ‘closed’ sign. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”

 

Almost sluggishly, Seung-gil looked up from cleaning out the vitrine, blinking owlishly. “No?” he asked, unsure.

 

This threw Yuuri for a loop, at least a few seconds. “You… don’t?”

 

“Yes,” Seung-gil said. “I’m not trying to get myself killed- can’t sleep.”

 

Yuuri shook his head in disappointment, reminding Seung-gil, an awful lot of his mom. “I know you,” Yuuri said, which was logical. Seung-gil lived here for over three-and-a-half year. “I know that if something really bothers you, you drown yourself in work. Literally, work yourself to death.”

 

Actually, the sweet embrace of death didn’t sound too bad. Maybe he should have answered ‘yes’ when Yuuri asked him if he wanted to die.

 

“So?”

 

Groaning loudly, Yuuri threw his arms up in the air, looking inches away from throttling him.

 

“What’s bothering you?” Yuuri asked. “Ever since the seasonal get-together, you have been acting off- what happened?”

 

Why would he tell Yuuri? He already knew about his crush on Phichit, no reason to tell him about that. Nor would it do their relationship any good, as Seung-gil was still fuming. He was angry, angry that Yuuri didn’t tell him, angry that he had been an ass towards Phichit. He didn’t deserve it. Actually, nobody deserved his rudeness, so if Yuuri would so kindly leave-

 

“Is it Guang Hong and Leo getting together?” Yuuri asked.

 

Glowering, Seung-gil resisted the urge to chuck the closest by object, a vase with a faux flower arrangement, at Yuuri’s head.

 

“Seriously?” Seung-gil asked. “I’m _happy_ they’re together. They have been circling around each other for so long, no, not them.”

 

A tight smile curled on Yuuri’s lips. “Ah, you figured out your crush. Not happy?”

 

All the feelings that had been bottled up spilt, spilt like water rushing through a broken dam.

 

“I’m not sure how to feel about it,” Seung-gil said coldly. “At first, I was surprised, and in a state of disbelief. But I warmed up to the idea- Phichit is a great person, such a great person…” his voice started to shake. “Then I realise I have been an absolute jerk to him for so long, like, there was no way he would ever want to become _friends_ with me, not to mention to start a god damn relationship. Because face it,” his voice was borderline hysterical. “Who wants to date a socially and emotionally incapable person who keeps on pushing a rivalry on you, who acts like an ass to you most of the time? Surely not Phichit- you have to be insane to even want to date me even if you barely know me- the better you get to know me, the less likely it will be. Because admit it, I’m not likeable. I don’t have redeeming qualities or any social skills. I’m just one mess of awkward rudeness with the capability of ruining anything. I-”

 

He had wanted to say more, but a sob stopped his entire ramble. To his horror, another sob followed and soon, tears were running down his face. He was a twenty-seven year-old-man, he shouldn’t be crying over a crush like a high school girl. He shouldn’t, yet-

 

“I actually do really like him,” he sobbed, rubbing his eyes like a little kid. “I really do, but I threw away the only chance I had and now, well, now my emotional wellbeing is dictated by my ridiculous, unrequited crush.”

 

“Oh dear,” Yuuri’s voice was so quiet and fragile that it made Seung-gil wonder whenever _he_ was the one breaking down in tears.

 

Seung-gil didn’t like physical contact, but the hug Yuuri pulled him in was very welcoming.

 

Sniffling like a six-year-old, Seung-gil buried his face into Yuuri’s shoulder and sobbed quietly.

 

“I’m so pathetic,” Seung-gil hiccupped. “I’m an adult- I should be able to handle these things maturely yet-”

 

Yuuri let out comforting noises, rubbing the small of his back. “Love is a difficult subject,” muttered Yuuri in his ear. “There is nothing wrong to have doubt, to have insecurities-”

 

He was pretty sure he let out the most heartbroken noises either of them had heard.

 

“How can anyone even stand me?” he asked between sobs. “How? I mean- I’m unlikeable in every possible aspect- why are you even trying? Out of pity?”

 

“Because you’re part of our family,” Yuuri said. “Our little, dysfunctional family. Like do you think that you’re the only ‘odd one’? Otabek took a long time to warm up, Yurio can still be very grumpy, Michele is still overprotective over Sara while she has been dating Mila for _years_. And don’t let me get started on Chris’ capability of being that ‘perverted uncle’ at every family gathering, or Georgi’s record-breaking amount of unrequited love. We’re all a little bit weird, some more than others- but we all like each other… some more than others. I doubt the day will never come that you will stop the urge to throttle JJ.”

 

You know, in any other normal situation, he would have wiped away his tears, force a tight smile on his lips and think all was well. Or at least, well enough. Instead, of course, he just had to completely crash and burn.

 

Maybe this was a good time to use the holidays he had been saving up from day one- get somewhere far, far away where he could figure out everything without working himself to death.

 

~*~

 

After a checkup with an actually certified psychologist, Seung-gil had gotten the recommendation to take a few weeks off, visit a stress-free place and take time to process everything. Also, the old lady kindly pressed on that he _should_ take a few days off in a month. Working 300 days a year wasn’t healthy, at all. So, his idea to spend some time away hadn’t been bad a bad guess. There was just one thing the psychologist hadn’t taken into account. Seung-gil was a workaholic to the core, he couldn’t just lounge around a luxury hotel for weeks. He would leave the hotel more _stressed_ than before. No, he just needed to be busy somewhere else, in a friendlier, calmer environment…

 

It seemed his fairytale-ish far, far away was just across the street in Plisetsky’s pet shop. It was weird, for weeks he saw his own bakery when he dragged the dogs out for a walk, but it was dark inside, no sign of life. An apology note hung on the door, announcing that the bakery would be closed for a few weeks due to medical reasons. A breakdown was apparently a medical reason.

 

“You suck, you know,” Yuri, at some point Seung-gil had dropped the Plisetsky, said, pointing a spoon at him. “You made me actually like you- I didn’t share a place with someone in ages, and now I’ll probably _miss_ you.”

 

Sparing the looming spoon no mind, Seung-gil offered Yuri a pointed look. “You probably will miss my work more than actually missing me.”

 

With a loud bang, Yuri slammed his fist on the table, causing the cutlery to rattle.

 

“For once can you believe me when I say that I actually _like_ you?” Yuri snapped. “I know you have self-esteem issues- a lot of us have- but by now you should realise people actually like you.”

 

Well, it wasn’t a lie. People genuinely seemed to care about him as they had shown over the past few weeks. Surprisingly, the first that came knocking down his door when Yuuri had put him in bed was Guang Hong, who had started to babble at the speed of light, apologising for everything that happened and somehow managing to put the blame on _himself_. Like, the timing was just downright awful that Guang Hong and Leo had their accidental engagement and that Seung-gil figured out his crush on Phichit that had sent him down the road of insecurity, self-loathing and self-deprecating tendencies. Said feelings probably came with the fact that for once, there were actually people he cared about, which made him all the more anxious that he fucked things up. The rest was pretty self-explanatory.

 

But, back on the topic of that people actually cared, fellow shop owners had shown support, each their own way. For whatever reason, Popovich had dropped off a cup of coffee each morning, which definitely was much better than Yuri’s poorly brewed coffee. Yuuri, who kept on beating himself up for acting as the accelerator to Seung-gil’s breakdown, which was bound to come sooner or later, had often dragged him along on walks in the park with Plisetsky’s dog and his own dog Makkachin. More of these little, silly things happened, and the past three weeks couldn’t be more confusing yet _nicer_ than ever before. Not that a few weeks could fix his anxiety-ridden ass but hey- it was a start.

 

“I know,” Seung-gil said, jabbing his food. “It’s not easy to, just, you know…”

 

Yuri rolled his eyes, but his expression was borderline kind. “I know,” he said before his grin turned sly again. “But, as you’re will go home tomorrow, and will start facing your demons again, what are you going to do with your horribly pathetic crush on Chulanont?”

 

It wasn’t an actual jab at his crush, it was Yuri being Yuri.

 

“Actually… I do have a plan.”

 

The smirk on Yuri’s face dropped, a look of surprise replaced it in a blink of an eye.

 

“Wait, seriously?” Yuri asked in disbelief. “I would have expected you to ignore it and wallow in self-pity.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Seung-gil wondered where Yuri had gotten his dramatic flair from. He probably had spent too much time with Nikiforov, who _had_ a flair for drama.

 

“I just want to get it out of the way and move on- I mean, I own Phichit the truth for being an emotional incapable ass to him for most of the time.”

 

Yuri whistled appreciatively, dinner completely forgotten. “You’ve learnt a lot, after all, sometimes the right path is not the easiest one.”

 

Seung-gil let out a loud groan and bashed his head against the table top. “Stop quoting Disney to me.”

 

Loud cackling followed. “Let it go, dear. Let it go.”

 

He truly wondered why he thought it was a bright idea to live with Yuri for three weeks. Right now, it seemed like a far cry from it.

 

~*~

 

He was ready, ready to take on the world. That might be the biggest lie he told himself. He wasn’t even ready to properly take on his crush on Phichit, how would he even be able to tackle the world? Try till it kills him? Nearly happened ones, ain’t going to happen again.

 

It was a couple minute past six, which meant that Phichit was finished for the day. So, no customers disturbing them, no ringing phones, no noisy employees. The worst thing that could happen was that another shop owner would visit Phichit’s place, but Seung-gil thought that they would look at him and turn heel immediately.

 

For a moment, he eyed his alcohol cabinet, as far as it was considered an alcohol cabinet seeing as he had a few bottles of strong liquor. Nonetheless, a glass of some strong liquor would probably help him with the nerves- but at what cost? He wasn’t the best at handling alcohol, and he saw where it had led to the previous time.

 

So, being the better man, or at least trying to be, Seung-gil left the bottles untouched and left the two-story building with new found determination. He was going to start a new chapter, and this meant that he would get over his crush on Phichit, no matter how awkward it would get between them. Because it would be.

 

He definitely would miss Phichit’s bright smiles, the warmth in his posture, his words. Reflecting on the time they _had_ spent together, Seung-gil realised he never had truly minded it. Phichit’s presence was nice, not subtle like Yuuri’s, but bright and warm, a bit like the sun but Phichit was enjoyable to look at. Especially when he was in his element- running around in a kitchen, it didn’t matter which one, throwing things together purely based on gut-instinct and years of practice, which was surprising considering their somewhat young age.

 

As Seung-gil stopped in front of Phichit’s shop, Seung-gil noticed that his entire body was shaking. His hand was shaking when he raised it to open the door. It was so unlike him to be this anxious, this nervous. He never had been nervous in the past- nobody could get him nervous.

 

Balling his hands into fists, Seung-gil willed for the shaking to stop. He didn’t want to alarm Phichit the moment he entered the room. Once his hands were somewhat stable, at least stable enough, Seung-gil gently pushed the door open and stepped into the shop.

 

Phichit was talking to one his employees, which shouldn’t bother Seung-gil as much as it did. Maybe it was for the fact that Phichit was smiling brightly- over time he had started to appreciate that smile- and the girl was standing close, her arm not-so-subtly resting on Phichit’s bicep. The only consolation he had was that Phichit was completely obvious to the girl’s interest in him.

 

Coughing, Seung-gil saw the girl flinch, and Phichit looks alarmed all of the sudden. He clearly hadn’t noticed Seung-gil.

 

“Bad timing?” he asked. He understood how Guang Hong had felt when the ladies were talking about Leo asking out another girl. It _sucked_. Plus, Seung-gil wanted to do nothing more than bolt right out of the shop, wishing that Phichit immediately answered yes.

 

The yes never came.

 

Instead, Phichit shook his head, his smile falling a little but it still looked genuine, which was surprising. He hadn’t seen Phichit in three weeks, Yuuri telling him that he had asked Phichit to give him some space, that eventually he would explain everything. Well, here he was, ready to explain… things.

 

“It’s fine, we were wrapping things up anyway,” Phichit said, offering his employee an apologetic look.

 

The girl looked ready to _murder_ him. Mentally, he was signing her that there was no need to worry, Seung-gil wasn’t going to steal her guy away. After all, he doubted that Phichit wanted to have anything to do with him once he told him everything when he confessed. If she only could read his thought, she could stop glaring at him.

 

“Well, okay,” the girl said hesitantly. “See you tomorrow,” she added, offering Phichit a wobbly smile before picking up her bag and leaving the store, arms bumping painfully with Seung-gil. She really didn’t like him, it seemed.

 

Phichit seemed to be a little lost, eyeing the door where his employee had disappeared with a hesitant frown. “I don’t know what got into her. She usually is much kinder.”

 

Taking a shaky breath, Seung-gil offered Phichit a smile or at least tried to. “Well, I think I have a fair idea why she behaves… odd.”

 

This earned him an intrigued look, which was to be expected. After all, Seung-gil was a far cry from being a human expert.

 

“She thinks I’m going to steal you away,” Seung-gil said in a flurry of emotions- his voice betraying his nerves, his fears.

 

Phichit grew flustered in the face, offering Seung-gil an owlish look. “She really thinks that?”

 

Chuckling nervously, all he could do was nod.

 

“Oh wow,” Phichit was now laughing, eyes brimming with life. “For a psychology student, I had expected her to be more observant- I mean, I know you barely like me, so to think that she sees you as competition is just unbelievable.”

 

He was pretty sure his throat had turned into the Sahara desert. This wasn’t going well, at all, Phichit hadn’t picked up on _anything_.

 

“Well, _she_ is the psychology student, not you, maybe she’s better at reading people than you are…”

 

Trap set and ready to be sprung. Now it was a matter of time before Phichit caught the bait.

 

The laughter faded slowly, turning into an awkward chuckle before completely dying out. Phichit was staring at him with huge eyes, expression pulled in extreme disbelief.

 

“You’re kidding?”

 

Biting his bottom lip, Seung-gil shook his head and pulled a chair to sit on. “It’s a long story, so please sit down and let me explain.”

 

Phichit still seemed lost for words, but thankfully obliged, grabbed a chair and sat down, eyeing him with expectation and curiosity.

 

“To begin with, I’m terrible with feelings, but I guess you know that.” A solid start, he supposed.

 

“Also, I’m terrible with people. When you first came here, settling down, I was furious. Like, I was _first_ , yes, very childish, but you started a French bakery on the very same street I opened a bakery. So, I wanted to hate you, and I tried. You can guess that it didn’t really work out.”

 

“True,” Phichit said, chuckling. “Your glares never really worked- and you were way too tolerable. I mean, I saw you glaring at others often, and those glares were frightening- but the ones you send me… it only worked once.”

 

He knew which moment Phichit’s referred to, the glare he had offered Phichit when he accused Seung-gil of making Guang Hong cry. It was also the only moment he actually had seen Phichit react to his glare. The other times he probably had been soft, making Phichit puzzled why others spoke fearfully about his glares.

 

“Long story short, I never managed to really hate you- you were too kind, and for whatever reason, I liked you too much. Imagine my surprise when I found out I have a crush on you.”

 

Phichit chocked on his breath, looking at him with wide eyes.

 

“How long?” he asked.

 

Seung-gil smiled wryly. “Figuring out when I had a crush on you? Three weeks ago,” Phichit inhaled sharply. “Figuring out that I had a crush? The day before Valentine day, courtesy of Yuuri. _When_ I started crushing on you? Months ago, maybe even longer considering Yuuri- Katsuki- already had a bet going on about me liking you.”

 

“Why-” Phichit swallowed nervously. “Why are you telling me all this? Why taking your sweet time confessing that you have a crush on me?” a pause followed. “How can you be this casual about it?”

 

To his own horror, Seung-gil just laughed. It was a hysterical laugh, probably one borderline insanity.

 

“Because here comes the part I’m telling you that you should hate me, because why wouldn’t you? I mean,” both his breath and speech were trembling. “I have been pushing this rivalry on you. I never said ‘thank you’ when you helped me. I always wrote you off as an annoyance. I was never kind to you. Also, I lied, I lied to _and_ nearly took advantage of you, in a non-consensual manner. The bad part, up to this date I secretly regret. I regret doing something which you didn’t give consent for- I mean, what kind of twisted mindset is that?”

 

To his surprise, Phichit was smiling softly, eyes crinkling, eyebrows smoothed out. No tension. No anger, no fear- how could Phichit be so at ease with this?

 

“Should we go through this step by steps?”

 

It seemed that Phichit didn’t care about his answer, as he almost immediately continued, the gentle tone of his voice never faltering.

 

“Rivalry. Maybe mentally- but there was never any real rivalry. You didn’t forbid me entering your shop, you didn’t downgrade my shop. You never tried to sabotage me or actually overtrump me with doing insane things, like crazy hours or special deals. I never felt any pressure coming from you to do better, to be able to keep up with you. Plus, we sell different stuff, it would be the same as Chris and Georgi having a rivalry, they barely share any opening-times, not to mention that, aside from liquid, they don’t sell the same things.”

 

The rest of Phichit’s speech fell deaf into Seung-gil’s ears. He was pretty sure Phichit had been talking for a solid ten minutes, telling about how Seung-gil had been pretty kind towards him, that Phichit never expected a ‘thank you’ from something he forced upon him. But only one thought managed to loop through his head. _Why doesn_ _’t he asks about the lying- the non-consensual stuff? Why?_

 

As it seemed that Phichit wasn’t ready to stop anytime soon, Seung-gil raised his hand slowly.

 

“Please stop,” he whispered.

 

Phichit stopped talking.

 

“Why are you kind to me?” he asked. “You should immediately demand answers- you’re supposed to _hate_ me. Why don’t you hate me?”

 

It was weird to see Phichit unsure. Like, Phichit wasn’t the most confident being in the world, but as far as Seung-gil knew him, Phichit rarely actually doubted anything. He didn’t dwell on things, making quick decisions. So, seeing him unsure, dubious, he wondered what Phichit was struggling with.

 

“It’s sort of pathetic how easy the answer is,” Phichit said. “Because I don’t want to hate you- I like you too much.”

 

It was stupid how hopeful these words made him. Friendship. There was this bloody thing called friendship. After all, probably a day ago Yuri had said he liked Seung-gil, in a completely platonic way. Phichit probably though held the same feelings for him as Yuri did, which was in, all fairness, more then he by now could wish for.

 

“Okay- I _lied_ to you. So, don’t murder me,” Seung-gil hesitated. “Scrap that, feel free to murder me if you want. I’m apparently allergic to Hot peppers, so you have your poison.”

 

This might not have been the best remark, as Phichit started to giggle uncontrollably.

 

“Do you actually have an allergy for Hot peppers?” he asked, voice trembling with enjoyment.

 

Seung-gil nodded.

 

Phichit continued giggling for a bit before eventually regained his composure- or at least he tried because he still had this bright smile on his face.

 

“Anyway, at the night of our seasonal get-together, you didn’t immediately pass out on my couch.”

 

The grin was wiped straight of Phichit’s face.  Panic took its place. Raw panic.

 

“Please don’t tell me I tried to get in your pants.”

 

Oh. So it had been just in the heat of the moment- just the right candidate to scratch that itch that came with being drunk. Though, was Phichit a flirty drunk or a horny drunk? He might never know.

 

Seung-gil hadn’t given an answer, but it seemed that Phichit could read it off his face.

 

“Not again,” Phichit straight up _wailed_ , hiding his flustered face behind his hands. “That must have thrown you very off- and you’re telling me that _you_ are the non-consensual one. I can be terribly seductive when I’m drunk, or at least according to Yuuri.”

 

He assumed that Phichit meant Katsuki- as the two were close friends. He should start calling Yuri, Plisetsky, by the nickname Yurio. It made things at least a lot easier.

 

“Yeah, but if you’re both drunk it isn't consented anyway- I was sober enough to fully realise what is going on. I was the one who wasn’t acting out of consent-”

 

Phichit held up his hand, eyebrows pinched together in confusion.

 

“Wait,” he said. “You weren’t repulsed by my flirting? I mean, you are, as far as I’m aware, not very comfortable with human _interaction_ , so I doubt you would like having a guy straight up flirting with you.”

 

Seung-gil blinked. This had stopped making sense all-together.

 

“Usually, _yes_ , but I was inches away from accepting the kiss, still regret it somewhat up to this date, and I would accept another kiss, and another one, and well, you can guess where it leads to.”

 

Usually, he wasn’t this open about his desires. Not that he had time for something like that- he was a busy man with a busy job who didn’t have a lot of time to go out and meet people. It didn’t help that his usual sex-drive wasn’t… really up there. But it seemed that he had taken up his own advice and decided that communication was key. So, communication it would be, even if it was killing him on the inside.

 

Phichit was rendered speechless, which was a first.

 

“So, incredibly long confession short, you like me but thought you fucked up because you had non-consensual _thoughts_?”

 

Seung-gil shrugged, offering Phichit a sheepish smile. “Sounds about right,” he said. “I also said no when you indirectly suggested to make out- more out of panic than anything else. I was worried you would have, you know, remember that part, and as I had explained it poorly, you would have considered it a rejection, and believe me, I won’t reject your affection if you aren’t-”

 

He stopped when he felt Phichit place a firm hand on his knee.

 

“Okay, I’m totally in for you using proper communication for once, but,” Phichit took a deep breath. “You have a cute butt, but that’s off the topic. Anyway, right now, I want to smooch you till we’re both out a breath and I can tell my mum that _holy fuck, I just kissed the living daylight out of the cute baker I told you about._ ”

 

His heart stopped beating. At least, it felt like that. Because sober Phichit also wanted to kiss him, which meant Phichit liked him, romantically. Seung-gil had to admit that he liked this ‘like’ a lot more than Yuri’s kind of ‘like’.

 

“Wait- for how long did you like me?” Seung-gil asked, realising what Phichit was implying.

 

Crunching up his nose in faked annoyance, Phichit shook his head. “Later,” Phichit said. “But, uhm,” Phichit started to blush prettily. “Can I kiss you?”

 

They weren’t drunk, there was consent, and the feelings were, apparently, mutual. So he had no reason to say no.

 

So, for once, Seung-gil didn’t let his brain overrule his heart. “Yes.”

 

He had expected a soft, gentle kiss. Barely a peck. Phichit had a different idea, it seemed.

 

Without a second thought, Phichit sat down on his lap, straddling him. He did realise they were in a shop anyone could enter, right?

 

Not that Seung-gil was capable of worrying for too long, as the moment Phichit kissed him on the lips, the thought of public indecency flew out of the window.

 

Phichit’s lip was warm and sweet, and Seung-gil was pretty sure he was addicted right from the start. Not that he had a lot to really compared it to- his kiss count was rather low. Unsurprisingly, he was kissing like an inexperienced teenager. Not that Phichit seemed to mind.

 

By now, they probably had reached the level of semi-public indecency. Phichit had worked a warm hand under Seung-gil’s shirt, the other was gripping his hair tightly, not yet painfully. Not being far behind his partner in the level of indecency, Seung-gil had tucked his hand in Phichit’s pants, the back of it but nonetheless. His other hand had found its way to gently cradle Phichit’s face. He really liked how Phichit’s skin felt against his.

 

When they parted, which was necessary as they both needed air, Seung-gil was happy to die that very moment. His heart was soaring, his face felt on fire, he thought he was going to die from the lack of oxygen and Phichit was a sight he would forever treasure.

 

Face flushed, swollen and bruised lips, the subtle print of where he had held Phichit’s face, the glistening sheen of sweat. And they just kissed, there had been no tongue, no kinky stuff. Just a long-ass kiss that made Seung-gil the happiest man alive. This meant he probably liked Phichit more than just a simple crush.

 

“I think I can die peacefully now,” Seung-gil whispered, nuzzling his nose against Phichit’s.

 

Phichit smiled dopey. “Same,” he murmured. “I have liked you for so long- I can’t believe you’re all mine now.”

 

Seung-gil raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You? I’m the emotionally stunted one. You’re the one who is not so innocently straddling my lap. You actually know what you’re doing!”

 

 The love-struck look Phichit offered him was hard to grasp, but to be fair, the whole thing was hard to fathom. Phichit liking him, Phichit willingly kissing him. Just Phichit in general.

 

“Yes, you aren’t the best person to fall for their personality, at least not at first glance, first meeting,” Phichit admitted, gently holding his face. “But, first you have your looks, important to mention. Secondly, you’re a pretty good guy, with a nice sense of humour though you don’t realise it. You have a bigger heart than you think you have, you care more than you realise. You sell yourself short.”

 

Seung-gil god-honest _pouted,_ and he wondered if he could fling himself right out of the window.  He was a grown adult, inching closer to the thirty day-by-day. Before he knew it, he would start greying. Well, at least he wasn’t losing hair like crazy like Nikiforov, who still won’t admit it he’s just getting _old_. Anyway, someone his age shouldn’t pout like a child.

 

Phichit seemed to disagree.  “Adorable,” he murmured, dragging Seung-gil into a mind-numbing kiss.

 

He perfectly well knew that he should pull back. His legs were protesting, aching, because despite that he shouldn’t say it, Phichit was kind of heavy. He would carry this to his grave- you called nobody heavy, that was rude. Plus, the chair was digging in his back uncomfortably- it wasn’t the most comfortable chair to sit on, to begin with, and having a lapful of Phichit didn’t help- not that he was complaining that it was _Phichit_.

 

Thankfully, Seung-gil didn’t have to kindly ask Phichit to move, not that he would have been able to.  Phichit was the wizard, after all, he had wrapped Seung-gil around his finger from the very beginning. No, it seemed that Yuuri had decided to visit his friend, which was perfectly normal. Only, yeah, they were making out in the middle of the shop. Thank god it wasn’t a customer or otherwise or someone might have signed a complaint about public indecency, despite the fact that they were, well, _inside_.

 

“Phichit!” Yuuri sounded scandalised. “I told you to _not_ do anything remotely indecent in the middle of the shop- why is that so hard to fathom?”

 

Well, they actually were just kissing, but Seung-gil could imagine how this looked like for Yuuri. Phichit sitting in someone’s lap, on a chair. This easily could have led to a strip-tease, something Seung-gil felt rather uncomfortable with. He should have the ‘what are your boundaries’ talk with Phichit once they settled down in a relationship- if that is what they both want. (He assumed that the answer was yes, but you never know.)

 

Letting out a loud squeak, Phichit basically jumped up from his lap, causing the chair to tip over. It was a small miracle that Seung-gil managed to act in time and rolled off it, landing sprawled on his back on the store’s dirty floor, but he at least was completely intact. Or at least physically, his integrity had plummeting straight into the deep depths of hell.

 

“Shit, are you okay?” Phichit crouched down next to him, fingers gently trailing his jawline.

 

Grunting, pushing himself into a sitting position, Seung-gil managed to mutter an ‘I’m okay’ under his breath. His legs weren’t fine- they were tingling all over, probably the sudden rush of blood that made its way through his limbs. Maybe Phichit liked sitting on his lap, but he liked his legs to function properly. He needed them to, you know, move around, stand on. As a baker you did a lot of standing, Seung-gil realised.

 

“I swear,” Yuuri said, causing for both lovebirds to look up in surprise. It was hard to believe he _actually_ had forgotten that Yuuri was there. “I wasn’t even expecting you to _talk_ to him,” he gestured to Phichit. “Not to mention participating in public indecency.”

 

It was surprising to see Phichit’s eyes twitch in annoyance. “We _kissed_. What got your boxers in a twist.”

 

Yuuri pinched the bridge of his nose, the annoyance melting away into fondness. “I’m happy that you two _finally_ figured it out, it seriously has been torturous watching you two dancing around each other…” what’s up with the ‘buts’ in his conversation. “Couldn’t you have, like, wait for, two weeks?”

 

Frowning, Seung-gil did the mental calculation. Two weeks- which means that it would be July…

 

“Why do people keep on betting on me?”

 

Phichit snorted loudly, and Yuuri looked sheepish.

 

“Well,” Yuuri started. “I feel like we have gambling problems here. But small reassurance, Guang Hong won the bet.” 

 

That wasn’t too bad- he actually liked Guang Hong. Though, he wondered how long these bets were going on. After all, Guang Hong had seemed surprised when Seung-gil admitted he had a crush on _someone_ , but he didn’t even know who it was. Maybe Guang Hong knew, or he was just good at guessing.

 

“May I know who joined the betting pool?” he asked coolly.

 

Biting his nervously, Yuuri let out a nonsensical sound. “Everyone?” he answered.

 

Phichit let out a protesting noise. “I didn’t,” he said, sounding scandalised.

 

“Of course not. You’re the other party involved in the bet,” Seung-gil said.

 

Realisation dawned upon Phichit. “Wait, you _knew_ that Seung-gil liked me and didn’t say anything?”

 

It was funny because Seung-gil could imagine Phichit and Yuuri talking till late at night, Phichit spilling his feelings and Yuuri, return, trying to encourage Phichit to just try because he _knew_. He knew that Seung-gil returned Phichit’s feelings.

 

“Well…” Yuuri started, throwing Seung-gil a pleading look.

 

He should help out Yuuri, he really should, but on the other hand, he wasn’t going to fight Phichit’s fights without asking. So, Seung-gil just smiled a little and shook his head. This was his small revenge for Yuuri not telling him that Phichit was his crush, even if it was for the best.

 

~*~

 

“You should really consider settling down, dearie,” one of Seung-gil’s main customers said, a sweet, elderly lady who seemed to like gossip a little too much. “I mean, my grandniece is still available,” she suggested as she paid for the bread. “Or my grandnephew, if you’re into that.”

 

Seung-gil shook his head, handing the lady her exchange. “I’m perfectly happy right now.”

 

It was a tad annoying, but Seung-gil knew she meant well.

 

“But dear,” she said, worry thick in her voice. “You’re already thirty- a handsome man like you shouldn’t be single.”

 

The bluntness was… flattering? There weren’t many people who called him handsome. Actually, Phichit was the only one who occasionally called him handsome. He didn’t see it, but his self-esteem wasn’t that great either so…

 

“I never said I was single,” Seung-gil said.

 

The gossiping in the shop ceased to exist. The morning slew of elderly ladies was looking at him with expectation.

 

Flustered by the attention, Seung-gil reached for the necklace he had started to wear recently and gently pulled the cord up. The engagement ring was a simple, silver band, but it was plenty.

 

“Got engaged last week,” Seung-gil said shyly, enjoying the weight of the ring against his palm.

 

The ladies gasped, cooed and giggled in a span of a few seconds, eyeing the ring with great interest.

 

“But why wear it around your neck?” one of them asked. “I mean, this way nobody can see it- it’s a shame as the ring is rather pretty.”

 

Tucking the ring back behind his shirt, Seung-gil shrugged. “We’re both bakers- the last thing we wanted was losing our rings in the food.”

 

The same lady seemed perplexed. “So it wasn’t a surprise proposal?”

 

Rolling his eyes, Seung-gil found it hard to believe that most of these people were married for years. If one thing life had taught him is that communication is key. For every relationship, sibling, romantic or friendship.

 

“Yes and no, we talked about it and decided that we both were ready for it. After that, it was an open playing field. It was just a matter of time one of us decided to buy the rings and pop the question.”

 

It almost seemed like the entire store straight-up _swooned_. Was it that romantic, getting engaged? It was just another step in their lives, that was all. It didn’t make Seung-gil love Phichit and more or less. Phichit remained Phichit, whenever they were boyfriends, fiancées, newly-weds or they have been married for decades. He was getting sappy.

 

Now the ladies all wanted to know _who_ he was getting married to. But before they could ask Phichit popped into the shop from the back, still dressed in pyjamas and a drowsy expression on his face.

 

“Hey babe,” Phichit yawned, not paying any attention to the customers. “You know what’s the wildest thing ever?”

 

Ignoring the ogling eyes of the customers, Seung-gil pressed a peck on Phichit’s nose and offered his fiance a soft smile. He really was growing soft- he blamed Phichit’s sorcery fort hat. Though he had yet to catch Phichit actually being a wizard.

 

“What’s it?”

 

Phichit chuckled. “Well, for someone whose organisational skills give me anxiety that mine will never be good enough, you’re terrible at organising your own kitchen. We’re out of sugar.”

 

“You know that I always forget to do groceries,” Seung-gil pointed out. “You have been over before.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Phichit threw his hands up in an exaggerated manner. “Yes, but I didn’t live here so I didn’t really care- but now that I’ve moved in here, we really need to work on your planning skills for your social life.”

 

Pressing a brief kiss on Phichit’s forehead- they were so grossly domestic- he turned his fiance around and gently urged him out of the shopping area of the shop.

 

“Steal some from the stock, and we’re good, right?”

 

Humming in agreement, Phichit finally returned to the kitchen area, out of the way of the prying eyes of his customers.

 

A few seconds passed in absolute silence before the questions were hurled at his head. _What? When? How? Why?_

Well, that was one way to make his relationship public. In the past, Phichit and he had their relationship outside of their work environment. So no kissing, flirting, cuddling during work. Among their friends, it wasn’t much of a problem, but customers could be judgemental. Though, to be fair, Seung-gil had expected his customers to be rather enthusiastic about the fact that he settled down, that it was with Phichit was just an added bonus to them.

 

Not that it matters, he was the one with a beautiful boyfriend- eh, fiancé. Phichit, he was the one who someone managed to steal Phichit’s heart. He still didn’t know how, but not all how’s had a logical answer. It just happened, and he didn’t mind it one bit.

**Author's Note:**

> My baking knowledge comes from... Great British Bake-off, the Dutch version of that and Cake Boss. That's all. My knowledge of managing a shop comes from the few bookkeeping classes I had and, like, I literally don't know anything about most of the things this fic have. (Aside from the mental break down itself, which I rather not know about.)
> 
> But I hope you enjoyed it! (Especially the birthday girl, I hope I didn't disappoint). This hopefully explains why I haven't been active lately, as I have been working on this the majority of October, and November is me sitting in the depts of NaNoWriMo hell. Hopefully, I'll be a bit more active in December, hopefully. (School is an ass.)
> 
> **The Title:** Dancing in the rain - Ruth Lorenzo


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